Â鶹Éç

Art is political, whether you see it or not; consciously or subconsciously, art has been and will probably always be political.

And at just 17 years old, I had a life-altering realization: I want to make art that challenges perspectives, too. Now, four years later, I have made my directing debut with “A Respectable Wedding (Die Kleinbürgerhochzeit),” by playwright Bertolt Brecht.

This opportunity did not come out of nowhere. I created an Honors program thesis that would research the use of political theatre as a means of fostering consciousness within an audience. The “experiment” part of the research would involve directing the play using methods developed by Augusto Boal, Bertolt Brecht, and educator Paulo Freire.

This project would have been funded by the Honors program alone; however, in an exciting turn of events, the student-led theatre club Rehearsal Room C had an open slot at the Conant Performing Arts Center this year and had received a little extra funding from the theatre department. I was able to produce my project with their support, and our partnership created a lot of buzz among the other students.

Now, there was a spotlight on student-led theatre, highlighting the students’ talents and giving them creative control of a show with the support of real theatre professionals. For me and for my peers, it was a sea of opportunities.

I chose to direct “A Respectable Wedding” after learning about it while studying the history of political theatre. Bertold Brecht is one of the most famous political theatre practitioners in the world; he used his power of art to inspire political consciousness when the Nazi Party controlled Germany. This play was one of his first scripts, and it explores the social dissonance of the bourgeoisie.

As I directed this play, I focused on Brecht’s “alienation” effect by creating caricatures of the characters. This technique prompts the audience to reflect on their own social dissonance. By creating moments of exaggeration, breaking the fourth wall, and stepping out of the realist comfort zone, the show highlights the differences between reality and theatre, taking the audience aback and allowing them to reflect on the performance. By applying Augusto Boal’s “Theatre of the Oppressed” techniques to rehearsals, I was able to create a different environment for the cast, allowing them to explore their own characters’ agency, rather than having it imposed upon them.

Putting a show together is not an easy task; it took a lot of time and dedication. Students did it all: set design, costumes, props, make-up, choreography, and backstage and front of house management.

However, the most challenging part was controlling the things you cannot control.

You know what’s harder than having a COVID outbreak during a show? Having two COVID outbreaks during a show. The show experienced its first illness at the beginning of the rehearsal process, which we were fortunately able to continue thanks to our understudies. However, COVID struck again during the second week of the show, and unfortunately, the tireless work that the understudies put in never saw the light of day.

Overcoming uncontrollable things is the hardest part of this job. You cannot control when the theatre lights won’t come on or when half of the cast gets sick. So, it’s better to focus on the things you can control.

When you get your hands dirty and actually experience something — rather than just learning the theories — that’s when you discover the most. For me, that could not be more true. I got to experience what it was like to step out of my role as an actor and into a new, challenging role as a director. My Honors research was larger-than-life.

With this experience, I learned that theatre is something that I want to continue pursuing. I am still finalizing my research from this experience, but I am excited to present to my friends and professors at next year’s Liberal Arts & Sciences Symposium, where I will defend my thesis.

I’ve been told that the play was greatly enjoyed by the Â鶹Éç community. Dr. Marisa Atencio, Â鶹Éç’s director of global education, told me: “I’m grateful there are student-directed performances that are both accessible and enriching. I wasn’t familiar with this play and laughed more than I imagined. It’s an incredible benefit to our students to be able to participate in hands-on learning and take on leadership for their craft in a way that the public can engage with.”

As I stepped into the director’s chair for the first time, I could not fathom just how much I would grow as a person and a professional. Now, I have so much confidence in my leadership and artistic vision for the next time I sit in the director’s chair — which will, hopefully, be very soon.