What's not to Like?

Thoughts on the Akron Summer Theatre Project, i.e. what did we learn?

It can be done. We now know that we can present theatre in the summer (and in the LIA) and that people will come to see it. We now have a foundation on which future work can be built.

Students benefit from the opporunity to participate. Several of the students involved in the process appeared on our stage (or backstage) for the very first time or in a major part for the first time. Most of our students made giant leaps forward in their understanding of the creative process. There was simply a lot of leaning involved in the Akron Summer Theatre Project.

Rough theatre can be exciting. It was fun to carve a theatre out of an empty room. Figuring out the stage, sound, and lights adds a level of creativity not generally available in a more typical theatre environment.

We can't do it alone. Good theatre is always a collaborative art form and those collaborators are more important when you are doing something totally It was a joy to work togther with colleagues such as Barbara Bellamy, Scot Sexton, and Rachel Galambos. Welcoming alumni such as Trishah Snowden and Stephen Carder back to our stage was a thrill. Working with new folks such as Alan Higbee, Marc Dusini, and Mathew Gilbert opens a door through which many good things may enter as time moved on. Each of these folks brought something to our process that made us all better artists.

Further, many others took on tasks and provided spiritual support to help produce and promote the show. While it would be nearly impossible to name each one of them, they should not go unrecognized.

We welcome support from other community organizations. We rehearsed at venues as varied as the NW Akron Family Recreation Center, the First Baptist Church of Akron, and Weathervane Community Playhouse. We have had a relationship with each of these organizations for years but their support helped to legitimize their commitment to educational theatre. We are stronger because they are in our neighborhood.