Sasha Hull
Lantern Staff
Is Butler’s books and tuition scholarship worth the effort and time commitment for the theatre students it offers its aid to? Do technical theatre scholarship holders put in more effort than their acting counterparts? Two theatre students help answer these questions to understand truly what it means to be on a theatre scholarship at Butler.
Sophomore Jacky Chacon is a part of Butler’s technical theatre and has positive feelings towards the program.
“I think [the scholarship] helps because I get more involved in school, which caused me to find friends and find people who are in my class or have taken the class and can help me out,” Chacon said. “What we have to do is worth the tuition. I really don’t have to pay for college and that’s worth it.”
All theatre program members are required to participate in two hours of practicum per week and help with the shows as needed.
Freshman Sydney Gregor is on an acting scholarship with Butler’s theatre program. Gregor is fulfilling her role as stage manager for their most recent show, “The Importance of Being Earnest.”
“What I do as a performance scholar is we audition for every show, and if you make it in you have rehearsals, and if you don’t make it in the show, then you have a practicum and you help with the technical side of things,” Gregor said “You have to take an acting class every semester with practicum.”
At times, activity scholarships can run students down because of the time commitments and the demands that go along with maintaining those scholarships.
“When I look at how much I’m actually paying for school, I think that what they are requiring from us is justifiable because it covers a lot of expenses and as someone who likes theatre as much as I do,” Gregor said. “I don’t think it’s work necessarily.”
Both Chacon and Gregor feel that all the students in theatre have equal responsibilities and time commitments when it comes to creating and working on a production.
“I think it is equal; if you are in a show, you go to rehearsal everyday, [and] you make sure you are ready for the show,” Gregor said. “If you’re not in the show, you’re doing tech[nical] and have practicum everyday. I’ve done both sides and learned a lot from both.”
From a technical standpoint, Chacon agrees that all of the theatre students pull their weight.
“I think it’s pretty even dealt,” Chacon said. “I don’t have to try out for shows. Actors do have to try out for every show. If an actor doesn’t get into the show, they put in their two hours by helping and through practicum.”
From first being introduced to a new show to the actual performances, theatre students are given roughly four weeks to perfect their own lines and to make sure the technical side of a production is ready for showtime. Butler theatre performs in the 700 building, Thursday through Saturday during the week of shows.
