Alumni, students form theatre troupe
Over the summer, University of Indianapolis theatre alumni and current students came together to form their own theatre troupe, The Vagabonds’ Bridge Theatre Company. The group then put on its own show, “The Playground,” from Aug. 9-11 at the Wheeler Arts Center in Fountain Square.
According to cofounder and UIndy alumna Chelsea Anderson, the group was formed because the members wanted to work on a new production.
“A couple of us wanted to do a show in our free time over the summer,” Anderson said. “Without any auditions in the works, we decided to produce our own production. We put out the word to see who was interested and formed the group from there.”
According to Anderson, “The Playground” is about how five people in their 20s communicate in the modern age of technology. When one character locks four people in a room and cuts them off from communication with the outside world, the four are forced to re-learn how to communicate without the aid of technology.
Junior theatre major and pre-med student Ross Percell said that the idea for the group originated with Anderson, and then the group started with a few people and the process grew from there.
“We said, ‘OK, well, we kind of know the logistics of how this could work [putting on a show]. We did it. We think we can do it. We just need to find the people to do that with,’” Percell said. “So we got a hold of the people we knew—which was just a bunch of UIndy alumni and current students, who were living here this summer—got together, Chelsea wrote the show and we put it up at the Wheeler.”
Anderson said that there were many reasons why the group decided to perform “The Playground.”
“The show itself developed out of A, having no budget to secure rights to a published play, B, an interest in filling what we saw as a void in the time frame we had to work in and C, the challenge to create something unique. After a series of proposals and readings from within the group, we voted and decided on ‘The Playground’ as a great first piece,” she said. “Many readings, revisions and rehearsals later, we had a show.”
Anderson, who graduated from UIndy in 2010 with a B.S. degree in Theatre and is currently working towards an M.F.A. in acting/directing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wrote and directed “The Playground.”
Other members of the troupe include alumni Arianne Villareal, Danielle Buckel, Mason Absher and Kyrsten Lyster, as well as current students Nathan Pellow, Jason Gill and Daryl Hollonquest and local actor Pete Lindblom.
According to Anderson, starting from scratch meant working twice as hard to market both the show and the troupe.
“It’s always an adventure directing any production,” Anderson said. “However, stepping outside of the comfort of an established theatre with all of the accoutrements needed for a lavish production is a scary feat.”
