Editor's note: This article is the second of a four-part series examining senior theses and culminating experiences in the arts.
Behind the calm glass facade of the Hop is an exciting flurry of artistic activity and endeavor in exploring the world of the stage. This year, the two honors theses in the theater department hint at the wide range and depth that Dartmouth students have to explore. Hannah Chase '06 and Jeff Brown '05 have been working throughout the year on their respective projects which are a culmination of their own interests and talents.
Chase is a theater major modified with film studies whose culminating project centers on her direction of a production of Caryl Churchill's "A Number," as well as a written director's casebook concerning both Churchill and her play. Chase's advisor throughout the project has been Professor Peter Hackett, the head of the theater department, whose experience as a director (both in general and of a past production of "A Number" itself) has been "invaluable."
Having premiered at London's Royal Court Theater in September 2002, "A Number" is the most recent play by the celebrated English playwright. Although its premise deals with cloning, the hour-long drama explores more complex issues of identity and relationship. Cloning is used as one of the non-realist tools that Churchill is famous for incorporating in her acclaimed works, and this is what drew Chase to Churchill's work in the first place. "I'm not particularly powerfully drawn to kitchen-sink realism, and her plays are always very abstract," said Chase. "These weird devices are symbols for ultimately a very human play that brings to light important cultural and sociological experiences."
Chase proposed her project last spring as a junior and read the play "about 60 times" over the summer to fully digest Churchill's unique and rich use of language. Throughout Fall and Winter terms, Chase researched and compiled her casebook. Since the show has only had London and New York productions (neither of which Chase has seen), the focus of the book was Churchill's writing style and how patterns in other plays "would apply to my production." The book, with its in-depth analysis of the characters and individual lines, also prepared Chase to direct in the spring. Chase is still working on this component as she directs the play.
Rehearsals for Chase's production are now underway, and the performance is scheduled to show in Moore Theater, from May 18 through May 20. It stars Bud Simis '08 and Professor James Rice.
"It's great working with Hannah and James. There's such a great atmosphere in all the rehearsals, and I think that stems from how well we all work with and off each other," Simis said.
Chase agreed that "the most enjoyable part has been listening to my actors read -- it's a play that needs to be spoken. I'm realizing there's a lot more to learn ... Nothing could have completely prepared me for actually directing."
Jeffrey Brown's thesis is a little quieter, but no less engaging. With Professor Margaret Spicer as his advisor, Brown delved into the artistic and dramatic concerns of designing costumes for Philip Barry's play "Holiday." This "paper project" involved drafting 22 final designs (and many more sketches before that) after a great deal of period research over the course of the year.
Brown got involved in costume after participating as an actor in Dartmouth shows during his freshman year, having liked the "fun atmosphere" of the costume shop. Brown said he "didn't know the difference between a needle and a pin at first," but the costume design and construction classes at Dartmouth were a "great learning experience."
While on the French FSP, he was accepted into a Paris program about costume design and opted to stay there studying for a year.
Brown was already a fan of Barry, especially of the witty dialogue and genuine characters placed within a high society setting. Barry's most famous work is, of course, "A Philadelphia Story," starring Cary Grant, James Stewart and Katharine Hepburn. With such an iconic movie, Brown doubted he could truly create his own unique vision for the costumes. While he had also seen the film version of "Holiday" (also starring Hepburn and Grant) several times, Brown said, "I was less connected to the visuals and felt that I could do my own version."
A major aspect of the project was keeping the play's original late 1920s setting (whereas the film took place in the 1930s). This decision entailed a lot of research on Brown's part in the fall, looking at original images of the 1920s, rather than costume designers' interpretations, to get a sense of a historical period not widely covered in his classes. "It was a hugely complex period with a lot of different things going on from 1920 to 1930 ... informed by a whole decade of transitions."
Brown's research also analyzed the play itself, looking at character notes and scene charts to find visual high points and to plan visual connections between characters and acts. "It's more than just putting on clothes," Brown explained. "It's telling the audience about the characters and the relations between characters through clothing, but you can't tell too much because you want them to reveal themselves."
For Brown, the initial stages of exploration were the most enjoyable; his challenge was to tackle the blank page and develop his skills as an artist and designer. Each costume design went through various stages of drafts until Brown reached the final, proportionate, detailed and colored final product. A lot of the work was done during Winter term, and all that remains for Brown is to give a small presentation on his work this term.
Brown says that he is looking forward to an adventure in exploring the film industry after graduation: "I feel like film is a good avenue in this, our modern world. You get to explore all these worlds through scripts, you get to investigate different characters, and your life is changing every six months or however long the shoot lasts. It's a modern equivalent to exploration."
