UIndy Theatre Co. is featuring two student-directed productions running Oct. 2-4: “Through Stained Glass,” written by UIndy student Axel Osborne, and “Anyone Can Dance,” written by Sean Baker.
“Anyone Can Dance” is a one-act play that focuses on a romantic relationship as the couple explores what would have happened had they met earlier in life, according to Student Director Rae Cook.
“These scenarios are going to be more ethereal and imaginative,” Cook said. “The whole time in reality, they’re just in their bedroom.”
Cook said this production is about 45 minutes, and they are performing the production with two females as opposed to the original male/female dynamic. Cook said that making changes like that is one thing they enjoy about student-directed productions over established productions.
“I like that we have a little more room to play with. In the established productions, it’s usually tied to rights, and we can get in a lot of trouble if we diverge too much from what was originally written,” Cook said. “But since it’s student productions, and we can kind of get away with how we’re still learning, we can have more fun with it, diverge from the script a little bit.”
Student-directed productions have only recently returned to UIndy’s theater company. Student Director and Front of House Manager Natalie Sayer said it has been about five years since the last student-directed production, but the department wanted an opportunity to perform Axel Osborne’s “Through Stained Glass.” Therefore, student-directed productions have been reinstated.
Technical student manager and playwright Axel Osborne explained their play, “Through Stained Glass,” is a period piece set in 1983 in the midst of the AIDS epidemic. It follows a Catholic, LGBTQ+ priest struggling internally while in a relationship with a partner who fears commitment. Osborne only took a week to finish writing the first draft of the play after being inspired while at a theater conference in Wisconsin.
“There were a lot of churches, Catholic churches, or a Catholic cathedral kind of. There’s just a bunch of those buildings around for some reason,” Osborne explains. “…That architecture itself inspired me to start writing something. But usually I like to focus on important elements or important points in, usually, queer history…”
The production is being directed by Sayer, Osborne’s friend. They said they gave Sayer and the acting crew a level of creative control regarding line delivery and wording, so they are excited to see the interpretations and adjustments. Sayer said this is her first time directing anything outside of class, but she has enjoyed the challenge.
“The professors have very little part in it, so that’s horrifying,” Sayer said. “I have to do everything myself, but it’s also so cool, because it kind of opens up this door for myself and my collaborators to all say and be like, what do we want to do? How do we think we can make this the best it can be? The sky becomes the limit, and that’s so scary, but also the neatest thing in the world.”
Cook, Sayer and Osborne said these student-directed productions give UIndy theater students opportunities to test their skills and learn in a hands-on environment. These productions will reflect the hard work of UIndy Theatre Co.
“It’s seeing it all come together,” Sayer explained. “It’s when you’ve been hanging out and you’ve been talking about the show, and the set starts to come together, and the actors start to get into it more, then the lights start to come together, and suddenly there’s a play in front of you, and it’s so cool.”
