Beyond the Proscenium, a new theater group on campus, received a large audition turnout for what will be its first production, “Spring Awakening.” The cast will include students who frequently act, students who have never acted at Bowdoin before, and everyone in between.
The group hopes to reshape the way students view theatrical productions on campus. It plans to distinguish itself from other theater groups by staging performances in various campus spaces other than theaters. “Spring Awakening” will be performed in Chase Barn Chamber as opposed to Pickard or Wish theaters.
Cordelia Orbach ’17 and Sarah Guilbault ’18 were motivated to form Beyond the Proscenium in order to create more opportunities for people who were interested in theater but not more traditional productions. Both Orbach and Guilbault have theater backgrounds themselves and wanted to make acting accessible to more students.
Phoebe Smukler ’17, who was cast as the female romantic lead Wendla Stiefel in “Spring Awakening” has not been in a show at Bowdoin yet and is excited to get involved.
“Beyond the Proscenium presented the perfect opportunity with ‘Spring Awakening,’ a very energetic and compelling show that I have wanted to perform in for quite some time,” wrote Smukler in an email to the Orient.
The demand for a group like Beyond the Proscenium was made clear to Orbach earlier this fall when she noticed first years discussing how they were interested in participating in plays, but weren’t sure about all the opportunities available to them.
“Everyone started talking about how there are a lot of people who want to be doing theater on campus, but cannot necessarily commit the time to it or are not sure where to find it,” said Orbach. “With only two traditional productions per semester, people who ended up doing theater were either minors or people who were very interested in it.”
Orbach believes that Beyond the Proscenium’s off-stage productions will make the prospect of performing more welcoming for those looking to participate in theater for the first time.
“The idea was to found a group that did another production per semester and to do theater in site-specific locations, rather than in theaters,” said Orbach. “We thought by bringing it out of the theater and onto campus it would make it more accessible and available to people who might not have been able to find it before or who were intimidated by a theater setting.”
The name of the group also promotes its open nature, Orbach said.
“The proscenium, which is the fourth wall of the stage, captures the idea of pushing through so we can access the people who weren’t necessarily on stage already,” she said.
“Spring Awakening” will be performed later this semester. Although the group is new, Guilbault says the upcoming play is already generating buzz on campus.
“I keep having people coming up to me saying how eager they are to start, and I think that will make it a really good show,” she said.
Adam Glynn ’17, who was cast as Melchior Gabor, the romantic male lead, is “psyched” to be part of the production.
“[The leaders] are really committed to diversifying the kind of theater we see at Bowdoin,” wrote Glynn in an email to the Orient.
Glynn performed last year in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” which took place in Ladd House, another non-traditional space for a show.
The group chose Spring Awakening, a spirited rock musical that deals with teenage sexuality and other contentious themes, in part to draw attention to its first production.
Jae Yeon Yoo ’18 will serve as the musical director for “Spring Awakening.” Yoo said she is excited to deal with the the unique challenges presented by the play’s staging.
“Since it’s so location-centered, that relieves a lot of the tech burden,” said Yoo. “I am hoping to get a lot of musicians involved. This is a chance to break out of the more traditional chamber ensemble groups on campus, but still create music together.”
Many of the group’s early members are underclassmen, providing hope that the young company will grow together over the next few years and recruit others to join its ranks.
“I am hoping new people will try out for new and smaller projects,” said Guilbault. “I hope the people who did audition for this production come again and I hope that they bring all of their friends.”