Small group of passionate students pursue theater studies

Although Me Too Monologues and Hoof ‘n’ Horn have attracted attention and sold out shows this semester, the success of the performances is not indicative of a large theater studies department.

Duke’s theater studies department—hidden behind the side door of Page Auditorium—is one of its smaller departments, usually graduating just five to 10 majors per year. The department puts on two mainstage plays each year directed by faculty or guest professionals, and Duke Players, a student organization within the department, produces one lab production each semester in addition to an orientation show to introduce freshmen to theater at Duke.

“People don’t usually come to Duke to do theater,” said senior Faye Goodwin, who is a theater studies minor and the former publicity chair of Duke Players. “They come to Duke because they want to go to med school or become engineers. That’s why you often get double majors or minors because people want to be able to do both.”

Goodwin noted that the relatively small size of the department makes it easier for students to work closely with faculty to produce shows and apply what they learn in class to their work—especially through the mainstage productions of the department.

She said students can serve as apprentices for faculty who direct the department’s shows or act in the shows themselves.

“You can be involved as a performer or lighting designer and get course credit for it,” Goodwin explained. “Sometimes faculty bring in other professionals and you get to see all these talented people and how professionals work together.”

Faculty also consider the small size and diverse academic interests of students to be unique characters of Duke’s theater studies department.

“Students can get more attention and get on stage easier when it’s a smaller department,” said Jaybird O’berski, assistant professor of the practice in the department. “Their other majors tend to influence their work whether it’s neuroscience or political science, which makes them intellectually interesting to work with.”

O’berski said faculty try to expose students to all elements of theater in order to help them see the whole picture—noting that every theater studies major is required to take classes in acting, directing, script writing and designing before they choose an area of specialization.

He said students who finish as theater majors end up doing “millions of different things” after graduation—ranging from acting in Broadway productions to stage-managing in the Lincoln Center to consulting in finance companies.

Senior Harmony Zhang, who double majors in psychology and theater studies, said she plans on pursing a Master of Fine Arts in acting and is now attending auditions all over the country.

Zhang was planning on being a pre-med when she first came to Duke, but she changed her mind as she found theater to be her real passion.

“There is a lot more to the human heart than a beating muscle in our body,” Zhang said. “There are stories, that through plays and movies, there are so much we can learn about human feelings and emotions.”

Zhang added that studying at Duke’s theater department helps students to be productive, and to find balance between motivation and stress.

Students like Goodwin, who is not pursing theater as a career, still consider theater experience at Duke to be an important part of their lives.

Goodwin, who is majoring in biology, said she wants to work in that field after graduation but still plans to do theater in her spare time.

“Theater and all the arts are beautiful in ways that you can always find an opportunity to do them, even it’s very small scale,” Goodwin said. “My experience at Duke is good practice for finding the balance of doing both.”

Zhang noted that there are a lot of theater opportunities on campus open to all Duke students. She encouraged students to audition for shows as long as they are interested in people and performance.

“I wish people were more aware of us,” Zhang said. “It’s not about being popular, it’s about sharing stories that we think are important and are relevant to students on campus and that’s why we do what we do.”