SPOTLIGHT

I~ 11.. COL U M BUS SCH0 0 L

:1: Ohio State University

Than lready boasting a number of also among the first universities to

to a generous solid, innovative undergraduate
and graduate programs, talented
department A performers and positive recognition
from local theater critics, the Ohio State
the fin University's theater department seems
tochn ns poised to rise to greater heights in the 21st
century. Department Chair Lesley K. Ferris
proudly notes, "We are the first major uni-
versity to offer an MFA in acting with a spe-
cialization in creating new work." It was
establish a moving lights laboratory
that trains student designers and pro-
grammers in this technology.
The department typically produces eight to
12 shows each season, featuring new works
from faculty and students, contemporary
plays, time-honored classics and works from
all over the world. Over the 1999-2000 and
2000-2001 seasons, performances have nlll
the gamut from King Lear to Vietrock, from

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A scene from OSU's2001 productionof Sophocles'EIektra,a versionby EzraPound.Pictured(left to right): DanaSpurlock,LeahReddyandRegina

Rockensies.BradSteinmetzdesignedthe sets,Jim Hutchisonhandledthe lighting while ColinSweetdesignedthe costumes.

January 2002 . www.stage-directions.com

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 Margaret Edson's Pulitzer-Prize winning Wit
to Ibsen's Peer Gynt and from Tennessee
Williams' Orpheus Descending, designed by
guest artist Jaroslav Malina, to Tony Kushner's
Angels In America, Part Two: Perestroika.
There are three theaters at OSU: the
Thurber Theatre, configured in a proscenium
arch that can accommodate 600; the Roy
Bowen Theatre, a 250-seat thrust stage; and
the Mount Hall Theatre, set up in a flexible
80-seat black box style. The Thurber is
named after the famous cartoonist, author,
playwright and OSU alumnus James Thurber.
Dr. Roy H. Bowen taught at the university for
over 40 years.
The depaltment also runs the Jerome
Lawrence and Robelt E. Lee Theatre Research
RenownedCzechtheater designerJaroslav Malina (bottom, right) with the cast of OSU's2000
productionof OrpheusDescending.Reprintedwith permissionfrom TheColumbusDispatch.
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Institute (TRI), one of the best theater libraries
housing manuscripts, set designs, photo-
graphs, personal papers and other works
from artistic greats such as choreographers
Bebe Miller, Twyla Tharp, and costume
designer and alumna Toni-Leslie James (BFA,
1979). A century's wOlth of the Gerald Kahan
Collection of costume and scene designs dat-
ing back to 1880 is also on site. The Institute,
which turned 50 in 2001, produces the annu-
al journal Theatre Studies.
Students can pursue a number of academic
tracks. The department offers BAs for under-
graduates; at the graduate level, students can
complete terminal MFA degrees or pursue the
MA/PhD research-oriented track. Teacher/
student ratio is approximately 1:10.
www.stage-directions.com
In additional to the acting major, students
can focus on directing, costume, lighting or
scenic design, history literature and cJiticism,
or create interdisciplinary programs of study.
The department is one of seven (along with
art, art education, history of art, dance, indus-
tJial design and the school of music) that
comprise OSU's College of the Arts. A past
project that benefited from this creative
fusion was Feral Music, a 1999 full-length
work in which the performance and compo-
sitions of a music student were combined
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with moving light technology.
Strong academic focus is coupled with
mandatory theatrical experience. Students are ,
required to take part in the department's pro-
1
ductions, in which the students experiment I!
1;1:
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with the art and craft of theatrical production
through acting, research, costume and stage
design, directing and technical aspects of pro-
duction. Although faculty members maintain i
professional interests outside the department, I~
they put teaching first. II1I
In addition to dedicated instruction, stu-
dents have access to professional directors,
actors and other theatrical personalities who
visit as guest artists and artists-in-residence. :111
They provide academic enJichment as well as
important contacts that can advance student
careers. Marcel Marceau, the maestro of
mime, has visited the university three times
since 1995. On each visit, Marceau has invit-
ed students to audition for his mime school in
France and a number of students have taken lilll
~
his offer seJiously.
Partly in response to student interest, the
department designed a virtual online theater
modeled on. the Bowen Theatre, in which stu- 'Illli
dents can control lighting, movement and set I'
design elements. This allows many more stu-
dents to take part in stage design than would
be possible in the real theater, and it enhances ~;
distance learning for students at regional OSU
campuses at Newark, Mansfield, Marion and
Lima, all in Ohio. The department's introduc- I1III
tory course, Theatre 101, is the most popular
general education curriculum class in the uni-
versity, with a student enrollment of about
1,000 each year.
Students who want to major in technical
production enroll as design majors and learn
all aspects of lighting design, technology, the-
ory, the use and construction of equipment
and methods and materials for stage rigging.
They also work in the moving lights laborato-
ry, a program made possible through the ini- 1'
tiative of associate professor Mary Tarantino, I[
who was awarded a grant to establish it with
technical expertise from VaJi-Lite Ine. in 1995.
The company has loaned $1 million wOlth of l
equipment. In addition to peJiodic training by Il
",1\
. January 2002.
 COLUMBUSSCHOOLSPOTLIGHT
.11111

Worldfamousmimeartist MarcelMarceauworks with a selectgroupof students,alumniandfriends during his residencyat the OSUDepartment
of Theatrein April 2001.
 Vari-Lite representatives at OSU, students also
do internships with the company.
Mark Shanda, associate chair of the
department and the technical director,
adds, "We don't want to give them all the
toys." Design students must also master
more traditional stage lighting to able to
work well under a variety of conditions,
from well-funded larger organizations to
small regional theaters.
Shanda and his students are active in the
United States Institute for Theatre Technol-
ogy (USITT). "OSU has had an entry in
every tech expo that USITT has sponsored
going back to 1987," he says, with the
school winning awards on three occasions,
the first with contributions from undergrad-
uate students. Not all entries involve com-
plex technology. For Tech Expo 2001, Jim
Knapp, a production coordinator, and
Shanda rigged a low-cost fog cooling unit
from a 24-quart cooler, Masonite panels, a
toilet plunger and angle brackets attached
to a Rosco Fogger 1600. It kept the fog
cool longer and low to the ground.
In-house productions are on hiatus in the
summer to allow faculty and students to
pursue other ventures. Summer 2000
marked the first year of the London theater
program, an intensive five-week immersion
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Spring 2000 and all of them got jobs. Alum-
ni have gone on to work in academia, the-
ater and theater-related industries; others
have used their skills for more commercial
ventures, including Ozzfest and the Poke-
mon international tour. "OSU theater stu-
dents who want to build a career in the
business can get jobs," insists Shanda. :11
I
"They may be underemployed at times, but
they can be employed."
The tuition for in-state, full-time under-
graduate students in $1,461; graduate is
$2,016 for full-time students. Out-of-state
tuition for full-time undergraduate stu-
AnemotionalmomentfromUncommon Clay,a dents is $4,244; graduate is $5,213 for full-
newworkdevisedanddirectedbyfaculty time students. Scholarships are available
memberJeanineThompson. Pictured:MFAactors for undergraduate students; most are for
JeremyMeier(background),
AngelesRomeroand majors in the department including a I
KenderickHardy(foreground). Ili
scholarship from Vari-Lite. Teaching
into English theater housed at University assistants hips and fellowships are avail-
College, London. OSU theater majors can able for graduate students. An ACT score
be found plying their flourishing trade at of at least 23 is required for undergradu-
the Santa Fe Opera, Colorado Shakespeare ate students; prospective graduate stu-
Festival, University of Wisconsin-Madison dents need to contact the department to
summer theater and the Williamstown The- find out the criteria.
atre Festival, to name a few. For more information on the program,
As far as job placement for graduates, "We contact OSU's Department of Theatre,
seem to do pretty well, especially in the last Drake Union, 1849 Cannon Drive, Colum-
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few years," says Department Chair Ferris. bus, OH, 43210; telephone: 614-292-5821; II1
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The department graduated nine rhDs in website: www.the.ohio-state.edu.SD
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