By Jacqueline Ayala, Social Media Editor
“Pulling focus” is a term used in theatre when someone tries to make themself the subject of the scene, the center of attention. Now it’s time to pull focus to something that’s been going under the radar at Pellissippi State Community College: a talented group of students called the Student Theatre Collective (STC) will be putting on Gruesome Playground Injuries, a play written by Rajiv Joseph. The STC is an entirely student-run program of theatre majors and non-theatre majors, and this semester the theatre department at Pellissippi State was unable to do a traditional production.
An important part of the theatre arts is having live shows and productions. Hours at rehearsal, memorizing lines, last-minute changes, makeup disasters … it all makes up theatre. Pellissippi State values this, and you’ll find everything you need in the Lamar Alexander building, where our theatre department has been hard at work this semester. Despite the inability to do a typical mainstage production because of fall schedule changes, the STC took initiative to put on a show.
Theatre professor Gretchen Wingerter got the chance to talk about the influence the play has had on her students, saying: “We still had lots of students who needed to earn practicum credit hours and things like that. So the Student Theater Collective had been wanting to get active again.”
The play, originally performed by two actors as the characters progress in age, is instead played by multiple actors, with the two characters played differently as the timeline changes. Some students are even doubling up, working both backstage and onstage. But it’s not just theatre majors working on this production.
“The majority of the people are theater majors, mostly because they had to do this for the class they are enrolled in. But everything that we do is open to anybody, whether they’re a theater major or not… but most everybody is,” Wingerter says.
Students are doing more than just acting and painting sets. They’re also directing, some for the first time, learning everything as they go. Directing isn’t something teachable but rather a “learn as you go” type of skill. Wingerter discusses her development in teaching directing to students.
“It’s something very difficult to teach. It is hard to teach, and I’m trying to be as hands-off as I can because I’m not directing it, but I have to help them.”
Wingerter has been hard at work helping the students, and they’re extremely proud to have her be the teacher they can rely on. Student Lilly Brubacher, who has been set designing the production, says, “Grechen has done a great job being invested in the students. She knows everyone is new and she’s using that opportunity to actually teach, and do her best to instill the values that make theatre a functioning department.”
The students having more creative freedom has allowed them to bring to life their ideas, which highlights the beauty of a student-run production such as this one. With the cast and crew being almost entirely new and having recently become students at Pellissippi State, it’s been a good experience for them all to have.
Having a stronger say in everything was Brubacher’s favorite part: “It’s given all this space to grow into within the craft and within working together with other people in all our respective areas to make one show; it’s been such an honor to be a part of that.”
The value of having an audience makes the hard work more worth it than one can imagine. Your peers are up or behind stage, doing something they are passionate about and want people to come see.
Pellissippi State’s focus is to create a welcoming, safe place for people to pursue their majors and give them every opportunity they can have. The Theatre Department is no different; Wingerter has shown her pride in all of her students and their hard work.
She says, “But really the best thing has been seeing each of these students take ownership of the things that they are doing and stepping into new roles that they’ve never done before.”
Gruesome Playground Injuries will be performing November 6–8 and 13–15. The Friday-Saturday performances are at 7:30 p.m., and the Sunday performances are at 2 p.m. What’s even better is that the performance is free for everyone! It’s the perfect chance to come and support your fellow Pellissippi State students who have been hard at work to make this play accessible for people to see at no cost.
With free admission, you really don’t want to miss this 100% student-driven show. Student actors, student directors, student designers. It’s the perfect time to support your fellow students and friends! As their opening night gets closer, all I have to say to these talented students is: break a leg!
