Howdy, y'all! I'm Alex, a queer and trans student from Tennessee. This year I'm involved with a lot: I'm serving as the Production Manager for the Dartmouth Rude Mechanicals, acting as Social Chair for Amarna, rushing Phi Tau, giving tours on campus, exploring the offerings of the Dartmouth Outing Club, joining Farm Club, getting more involved with the O-Farm and sustainability on campus, and generally enjoying my second year here at Dartmouth!
As a theater-kid-turned-English-major who already loved Shakespeare before taking this class, highlighting this as my favorite class of the term is a no-brainer. This class is completely accessible to anyone who is has never read Shakespeare while still being an engaging class for seasoned Shakespeare enthusiast. Class time is mostly devoted to discussion of the texts, and I feel like I came out of the class with a strengthened ability to analyze the themes present in Shakespeare's works as well as a better comprehension of the nuances of language used in the plays.
Before this class, my experience on the technical side of theater was severely limited. I've been acting onstage for a decade, and even though I knew that productions would be impossible without what goes on behind the scenes, actually learning how to DO what goes on behind the scenes was another experience entirely. THEA 40 is an incredibly fun and informative class, and I can confidently say I have a much more comprehensive understanding of what it takes to make a show come together. And next term, I'll have to opportunity to apply my new knowledge and skills as Production Manager for the Rude Mechanicals, Dartmouth's student-run Shakespeare company! I can't wait!
In this class we read stage plays through various lenses. These lenses comprised a general overview of the different readings of a play necessary in order to get it from script to stage: reading as actors, writers, directors, designers, dramaturgs, etc. I had an amazing time I feel my foundation of theater knowledge has been enhanced by what I learned in this class! I've been able to apply this knowledge as I continue to read and write plays in my spare time.
I took this class to fulfill one of my distributive requirements, but it ended up being my favorite class this term. I found the readings fascinating, the lectures engaging, and the group work super enjoyable (we were assigned to stream video games a couple hours per week!). Despite the large class size (100+ students) the lectures remained engaging and the professor made sure to hold weekly office hours to get to know as many of the students as possible; he even brought donuts sometimes! Overall, if this class were a video game, I’d hit replay as soon as the credits rolled.
One of the coolest groups I'm involved with on campus is the Dartmouth Rude Mechanicals (aka Rude Mechs, or Mechs), a student-run Shakespeare Company (If you're curious, the name comes from Act 3, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream). This past term, we did a production of Coriolanus, one of Shakespeare's Roman tragedies.
Dartmouth Rude Mechanicals Coriolanus Poster
Coriolanus is a play about a hot-headed and socially awkward Roman war hero who gets pressured into a brief stint in politics which goes so poorly that he gets exiled. In exile, he teams up with his rival Aufidius, who is the leader of the Volscian army, and they plan to attack Rome together. And they almost do – but thankfully, Coriolanus's mother convinces him not to, thus saving Rome. Aufidius, however, is furious that Coriolanus backed out of their plan, and the play ends with Aufidius and his fellow conspirators murdering Coriolanus. (If you're curious, there is a film adaptation starring Ralph Fiennes and a National Theatre production starring Tom Hiddleston – and both are quite good!)
In this previous postI talked about how I joined the Rude Mechs and what the production process looks like for a Mechs show. This term the process was very similar, but condensed into just 5 weeks of rehearsals starting in Week 3 and ending with two shows at the end of Week 7.
For me, however, this show was markedly different: this was my first time serving as Production Manager for the company. Last term I took THEA 40: Technical Production, where I learned what technical work it takes to make a show come together. And this term, I was super excited to put my new skills to use.
A moment from the show with Coriolanus, Volumnia, Virgil
Our previous Production Manager (and my good friend) Mitchell Ransden '23 helped guide me through the process of managing my first show as well. I learned to create schedules, book rehearsal spaces, make fake blood, do some minor sound design, connect with our fight choreographer (Heather Damia '24) and publicity chairs (Meg Burkhart '24 and Mateo Suarez '23), and was in constant communication with the lovely director of this term's show, Zeynep Bayirtepe '26, to make a truly fun and entertaining play come to life.
I waxed poetic about the friendships I've made in the Rude Mechanicals in my last post, but I'll reiterate my previous points here as well. The folks I get to work with in this group are some of the most dedicated, passionate, and talented people I've met. They're some of my closest friends, and they're people I know I can always count on for support – this term has definitely been my hardest yet, and my cast members have been a true lifeline. I'm so lucky to get to perform alongside them as a fellow member of the Dartmouth Rude Mechanicals, and I'm excited to see what we will accomplish and perform in future terms!
In addition to blogging, I work as a Fellow for the Tucker Center, which focuses on promoting spiritual and ethical life on campus. As part of this role, I'm leading the Interfaith Alternative Spring Break Trip. Read on to learn more about my work!
