Producing an entirely student-run work of Shakespeare takes the Dartmouth Rude Mechanicals two weeks of editing the First Folio, 78 hours in rehearsal and performance over the course of five weeks, four 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. rehearsals the week before the show, roughly $15 in GreenPrint for posters, approximately 10 bags of Haribo Gummy Frogs, countless pleading emails to friends and the theater department for prop pieces and many, many more hours memorizing, scheduling, advertising, directing and searching for costumes in our closets.
This is not a complaint. We do it because we love each other, we love the theater and we love the creative space and support that we can provide for each other. We do it because we want to bring the works of Shakespeare to the Dartmouth and Upper Valley communities, whether through performances or workshops in local schools. To us, there is no greater thrill than successfully making 500-year-old words accessible to modern audiences.
Like any sports team, we commit our time, our minds and our bodies to this goal. Unlike athletes, however, we do not always have access to appropriate facilities. On campus, the Bentley Theater is the only true theater space available to students that can support a complete, technically-produced show with lights and sound. Its availability fills up quickly and students interested in producing their own shows must try to find less fitting spaces in classrooms and common rooms. Moreover, while the Rude Mechanicals manage to make producing public-domain Shakespeare a low-cost endeavor, students who want to do modern plays must find funding to purchase the rights. In the past, the College had a much larger theatrical tradition, including a summer stock theater company and funding (albeit minimal) for more student productions.
Outdoor performance spaces are slightly more abundant, but issues of scheduling and weather can plague student artists. We appreciate that many of you have supported our endeavors by coming to the BEMA to watch us perform over the last two years. Unfortunately, this year we were told by the Office of Facilities, Operations and Management that due to the cold spring and subsequent uncertainty surrounding the plans to reseed the lawn, we would be unable to perform there. A performance at the BEMA would have been ideal and we could have done it without disrupting FO&M's work. Luckily, however, with their help and that of other Dartmouth staff members, we were able to find a second-choice performance space.
By no means do we blame FO&M or anyone else except maybe Mother Nature for the less-than-ideal venue. Our disappointment about the BEMA, however, has highlighted what we feel to be the problem with student theater at Dartmouth.
We challenge the College: It is time to think outside of the box, to think creatively so that student artists can stretch and expand their own creative muscles. There are untapped theater spaces on this campus Rollins Chapel comes to mind that are prohibitive to student artists because of their cost and the bureaucracy involved in reserving and utilizing them. The Rude Mechanicals were founded on principles of student self-sufficiency, but we have realized that it is not enough. There are students on this campus, not just in our little company, who have the desire and the energy to bring theater to the Dartmouth community. But we need more support, more funding, and if we dare to dream more adequate, indoor theater spaces.
This spring, the Rude Mechanicals will break our tradition of performing in the BEMA. Thanks to some staff members who reached out to us, we will be performing Hamlet in Brace Commons this Friday and Saturday. We invite upperclassmen, freshmen, your parents and the rest of the Dartmouth community to join us.
We recognize the remarkable assets that Dartmouth College has in staff, students and spaces. We ask that you recognize that student artists including the Rude Mechanicals are incredible assets to this community. We ask for more access and more opportunity. Producing theater requires vast amounts of energy, time and, yes, a little financing. Like any team that represents the College, we need its support.
