Students Get Theater Tips From Insiders

Career advice is sometimes hard to find for graduate students hoping to make the world their stage, but for these aspiring actors, Dudley House hosted a forum last night with local theater directors.

Speaking to an intimate group of 20 people in Lehman Hall yesterday, the directors discussed their own experience working in Boston's theater community and gave tips to the students on how to get involved themselves.

The forum was conducted as a discussion, which caused participants to linger for over two hours. Sarah Wall, a first-year graduate student studying English, said she was impressed with the program.

"It was a really great opportunity to hear Boston theater professionals talk in a down-to-earth setting," Wall said.

The directors began by describing how they became interested in theater. The conversation quickly turned to the vitality of the Boston theater community.

"I'm very happy to be here when the Boston theater community is regaining its former glory," said Scott Edmiston, literary and artistic associate at the Huntington Theatre Company.

Edmiston described an exodus of acting companies from Boston during the 1980s, but expressed optimism that the city was regaining its prominence in the field.

Panelist Floyd Richardson, artistic director for the Koinonia Theatre, described the reason that so many companies disbanded.

"We saw the arts kind of deflowered in a way during the 80s," he said.

Richardson attributed the decline in theater to massive cuts in government funding.

All the panelists related stories of their experiences with critics and the media--which both play a major role in the vitality of the theater community, according to the directors.

Eric C. Engel, director of Harvard's Memorial Hall, praised the Boston Globe and its head critic Ed Siegel for devoting space to reviews of small, professional theaters.

"It has made an amazing, amazing difference in audiences and morale," Engel said.

To form their own theater companies, Richardson said students should get "a lot of people together in a vision."

But funding and space are two of the greatest obstacles faced by new dramatic companies, according to the directors.

Edmiston described the relationship between a director and a producer of a play.

"As a director, I like to let my emotions run free," he said. "A producer's job is to whittle away at my ideas because of the budget."

Edmiston also let the audience in on the secret to his success--encouraging directors to let the actors play a role in directing the performance. When an actor asks him a question, Edmiston said, he responds "What do you think you should do?"

Engel cited some events in the spring as evidence that the Boston community is still actively engaged in theater. The Boston Theater Marathon, held the day before the Boston Marathon, is one of the newest innovations. It is a series of ten-minute plays composed by some of Boston's top playwrights.

When the directors explained why the theater industry has not withered away despite television's intrusion, they described some qualities they said make theater a timeless art.

"I think there's a real human need to be in the same room with people sharing a spiritual experience," Edmiston said.

And Richardson added: "When the community comes, we want them to have an experience not only with us but with each other."

The forum, organized by Dudley House Drama Fellow Valerie H. Weiss, was intended to give graduate students tips on breaking into the professional drama circuit, as well as a chance to meet authorities in the field.

This panel was part of an ongoing program of speakers about drama. Weiss expects the appearance of Michael Corente, director of the film "Outside Providence" to draw a large audience next semester. Corente will be speaking March 7.