This summer, senior Elizabeth Clay (Theatre major and Religious Studies minor 25’) researched with Fine Arts professor, Dr. Nelson Barre through the Summer Scholars program after dedicating a semester to gaining hands-on experience in Dr. Barre’s class, “Play Direction”. Her project titled, “Diving Into Directing: Halley Feiffer’s” How to Make Friends and Then Kill Them” focuses on directing a play surrounding the lives of three girls who deal with substance abuse and grief. Participating in Summer Scholars has allowed Elizabeth to explore various elements of creating theatre including selecting the play, planning and executing the auditions, marketing, and developing a vital understanding of the socio-political context of the play. Furthermore, she started a Director’s Notebook to become her personalized encyclopedia that contains an analysis of the whole play and each character, scene breakdowns, the context of the play, and more that will help guide her actors, designers, and stage managers through the production process. In completion of this project, her show has been submitted for review with the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF), which will send two respondents to review the show and consider it for invitation to the Region IV festival in February 2025. Elizabeth’s show took center stage on December 6th and 7th at Roanoke’s Olin Studio Theatre. After graduation, Elizabeth plans to pursue her passion for directing and theatre with a traveling children’s theatre program before returning to school to become a theatre professor.
Congratulations on your show!