For every production at Winthrop’s student theatre department, there is always a good director present to help guide the show and bring their vision to life.
The next show coming to Winthrop University’s Johnson Hall is the production of “At Home at the Zoo.” The showcase will feature two parts about a man named Peter as he moves to an apartment near Central Park, and encounters a stranger. The play boasts lessons of love and cruelty in a modern setting. The director of the play is senior theatre studies major Madeline Willard, who was astonished about the challenges of directing a play at Winthrop.
“Working as a student director is both exciting and overwhelming,” Willard said. “There are a lot of factors at play that you don’t always realize are your responsibility as the director until you’re actually in it. I think directing is one of those things you have to do to learn; you can’t understand it just from books and watching other people.”
Willard’s first experience with theatre was playing Hermia in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in fourth grade. While terrified, she became enchanted with acting through middle and high school.
“Once I got to high school, I was in the musical every year and almost every play. I found the best hobby in the world, and it was my favorite part of going to school. I had some truly amazing teachers who helped me develop as an artist and give me the space to explore my creativity,” Willard said.
Once at Winthrop, Willard wanted to look for ways to combine her growing passion for theatre with the possibility of becoming a teacher. This allowed her to come to a compromise that combined what she loved.
“I always wanted to be a teacher, but I developed such a strong love for theatre I couldn’t decide which I wanted more. Then it dawned on me that I had a theatre teacher. I could do both,” Willard said.
With experience in managing theatre in productions like “Annie Get Your Gun” and acting in one act plays and plays like “Hair” at Winthrop, this allowed her to get experience in how to direct actors in her play.
“I feel like being an actor has helped me immensely in my directing. It has taught me a better way to communicate with the actors so that we are on the same page,” Willard said. “When I am directing, I frequently ask if what I am saying makes sense, because I know as an actor nothing is more frustrating than getting a direction that you have idea how to perform.”
One of the biggest challenges that Willard faced in production for “At Home at the Zoo” was using the limited space of the Studio Theatre, which was different to the regular production theatre. This allowed her to work in finding creative techniques with the actors and the production crew to work with the story in their environment.
“For this show, we took that a step further and are producing it in an arena style, with audience on all four sides of the stage. It is quite a challenge to make sure the audience can understand the whole story when actors will have their backs to them at many points during the show,” Willard said.
By taking part of the Winthrop theatre department, Willard has been allowed to explore a new avenue of creativity and find her passion while learning to work with her fellow actors and production crew.
“Theatre has allowed me to be creative and expressive on multiple levels and interact with so many other incredibly talented people. Every aspect of theatre is collaborative, so I have had the chance to work with several other artists,” Willard said.
“At Home at the Zoo” will run from March 27-30 at 8 p.m., and March 31 at 2 p.m. in the Johnson Studio Theatre. Tickets for the show for students with a Winthrop ID is priced at $5 and $10 for the general public on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday through Sunday tickets are priced at $8 for Winthrop ID and $15 for general public.
