Dulce et Utile is a concept I learned about in my History of Theatre class. It means 'sweet and useful.' It is frequently a goal for theatre practitioners to provide shows that are useful to audiences in two primary ways: they teach a lesson, usefully, but they entertain while they do so, sweetly. I've found this philosophy to fit well with my personal artistic goals. Both of my directing and producing projects were useful because they combined nearly all of what I learned in the classroom and on shows into cohesive experiences. They were sweet primarily because they were very fun productions, but also because it has been amazing to see how a formal education in theatre really has prepared me to do the kind of work that I am most interested in. Below I'll describe how each of the projects went, and how I combined what I learned from USC to accomplish them.

 

My first full-play directing foray, Little Fishmaid, was a learning experience for a variety of reasons. I got experience in so many areas, and it is probably my largest and most comprehensive collegiate accomplishment. It combined my technical, managerial, and artistic skills as a leader, theatre tech, stage manager, performer, and writer. Since freshman year, I knew I wanted to direct a show, and I wasn’t sure if I would have the opportunity to do so through USC. I asked one of my mentors, Artistic Director of Columbia Children’s Theatre Jerry Stevenson, to take a look at my script. He gave me some very helpful advice for it, which led to a good working version of the script. Later, I asked if Jerry would be willing to produce the show, letting me use costumes, existing set pieces, and the theatre space; he agreed. The next thing to do was to see if I could be paid. On a leadership retreat for the Capstone Programming Committee, I took some time to talk with Capstone’s principal, Dr. Hickey. He was very helpful in letting me know more about the Magellan grant that is just for Capstone Scholars and Fellows, the Magellan Apprentice, and he encouraged me to apply. To say the least, I was psyched when I found out that I had received the grant. I decided to pay for expenses out of pocket, and be paid for my time with the grant money. In the end, the 30% of ticket sales that I earned via CCT ended up covering the around $200 I incurred in additional costs for props, costume pieces, scripts and the like (20% of ticket sales plus one full performance’s profits went to Curing Kids Cancer, and 50% went to CCT). Minus taxes, I was able to keep the $1000 grant for my time, which was a really cool feeling; through my grantwriting I got paid to direct and produce a show I wrote.

 

The directing process itself was really cool. I was nervous during auditions, the first read-through, and the first performance. However, I found myself to actually be not-bad at directing. It helped greatly that I had written the show, and had an idea of what the show would look like already. I also found that I was able to communicate pretty clearly what I wanted because of how much speaking and writing I’ve done in college. As an actor, I knew what my actors were expecting of me and how to correct things kindly, and as a former stage-manager I stayed organized. Directors are supposed to act as the final word on design and performance choices in order to create a cohesive vision, and they are essentially paid audience members that are a living, verbal mirror for the performers to know how the piece is coming together. I thoroughly enjoyed the task, and I am looking forward to seeing how my current show, A Woman of No Importance, is going to turn out.

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It also helped that I had a completely amazing cast. They ad-libbed frequently because about half the cast were improvisational comics like me, and many of the bits they created, we kept. Everyone was so professional and generous, and I knew what I was working with from the get-go. I was so blessed throughout the process by my cast. My stage-manager Sallie and CCT’s technical director Jim Litzinger were wonderful to work with as well. Sallie operated lights and sound during the show and did beautifully. Jim made sure I had all the set pieces I needed, and offered to alter many of them to fit my needs. Everything came together with the help of the people I was with. I was very happy with the final result, and personally enriched by seeing what people can do when they come together. I will always look on the experience with fond memories.

 

For more details on all aspects of the production of Little Fishmaid, check out the research journal I wrote for it, provided above. I have also included the script.

 

As mentioned, I wasn’t sure I would be able to direct at USC. I submitted a proposal to the Lab Theatre at USC, but no undergraduates were chosen to direct in the Lab this year. Knowing how helpful people are in the USC theatre department, I decided to try my luck by asking through a different avenue. After working with Robert Richmond, USC’s director of the undergraduate theatre program, as an actor on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I felt confident enough to ask him if I could use a USC theatre space to direct a group of high schoolers as an independent study. Funnily enough, around this time my mom was talking about putting together a show with my two sisters and other high schoolers, and had asked if I’d be willing to direct it. I knew I would have her help in recruiting responsible and talented kids to be in the show. Furthermore, I needed a theatre independent study to count as an ‘internship’ for Graduation with Leadership Distinction; this show checks multiple boxes for me.

 

Fortunately, Robert approved the plan to go forward with a show in Benson Theatre in April 2017. I found a supervisor for the study, one of my favorite theatre professors, David Britt. I got the show put into Benson’s schedule. Then, I spent more time looking at public domain plays to see what might be a good show; in theatre, we are taught to think a lot about, ‘why this show now?’ I wanted something that would be relevant and youth-friendly but still a bit of a challenge. With David’s approval, in the end I ended up choosing A Woman of No Importance, the same show I had proposed to the Lab. When I had first proposed it, the 2016 election had not been determined. Now, with the unprecedentedly surprising results of the 2016 election, where a man lacking any political experience was chosen over a former First Lady and Secretary of State, I think this play says a lot that will ring relevant for audiences about the importance of women standing up for themselves against a patriarchal society. Thus, my Women's Health course this semester, with its statistics about sexism and women in leadership, also influenced what I discussed with the students. To read more about why I chose the play, please see my updated play proposal above, or the large quote a few paragraphs down. 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the challenges of teaching kids about Oscar Wilde, and working with them through his words. I did a lot of teaching and assistant teaching in high school: Sunday school, theatre camps, gardening classes, classroom help, etcetera. I am happy about the prospect of doing so again. In my theatre history class, we learned about many artistic movements in chronological order, which was very helpful in exposing me to many of the movement terms I hear about in both my English and theatre classes. Wilde was part of the movement that believed in ‘art for art’s sake’, but he paradoxically had plenty of social commentary tucked into jokes and witticisms. He was excellent at creating meaning through apparent frivolousness. His sense of humor is a (much) more refined and poetic version of my own, I hope it isn’t too bold to say. Please see my term paper from theatre history above, which I based off of Wilde and his A Woman of No Importance.

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The production itself went really well. I am so proud of the seven high schoolers and two middle schoolers I was able to cast, and I was also very happy with the $385 in donations we were able to raise for Sexual Trauma Services of the Midlands. In addition to Wilde's history and goals, Here is an abbreviated version of the program I wrote:

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"This show had a budget of $100, set optimistically by me. With the help of props and costume donations from the parents, we stayed at almost exactly that. I finagled the lines so that we would only be in two locations, not four, and so that we would only need nine actors, not fifteen. Thank you to my sister Hannah, for taking on three roles in one show, and my mom for working hard to contact high school students to audition (I love these students you found). The space was provided for free by USC. USC faculty member Andy Mills awesomely loaned us furniture. Most of the students had prom attire, and most of the budget was spent on accessories.

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I ended up really liking the blending of old elements like the furniture and the words with new elements, like the students in prom-wear, and worked to blend some other elements too, like playing modern alternative songs on both the piano and the ukulele (I was completely shocked when I found out that six of nine of these students can play the ukulele… I still don’t understand this coincidence). We have had a fun time connecting this show to the present, as illustrated below, and we hope you like the result.

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If you leave with two things today?

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First, if you think something is a joke or a reference to something or a play on words, it is. If it feels like poetry, it’s meant to. Wilde is a pillar of the aesthetic movement, which was “art for art’s sake”, and which generally valued the beauty of language over a moral. I like A Woman of No Importance because it leaves you with some opinions, some themes of love and mercy, and a point about sexism in society that doesn’t smack you over the head, all while being pretty darn funny. He was fascinating and quite the progressive, and I highly recommend you look up his story.

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Second, please realize that I intended a point in having this show specifically benefit the Sexual Trauma Services center of the Midlands, which advocates for and supports survivors of sexual assault and abuse and educates the community to identify and prevent sexual violence. Sexism is not only degrading to everyone’s quality of life and to the freedom of all people. When inundated in a culture, it partially enables crimes such as domestic abuses, like rape. As a cast, we watched the documentary MissRepresentation, and talked about how sexism in the media and in our culture relate to the sexist attitudes present in A Woman of No Importance. No matter your politics, sexism is an issue that affects people of all ages and genders. And while I chose not to converse about my specific political views beyond this with these students, now that my job is done… let’s just say I find it pretty interesting that despite the moral shortcomings of both leading presidential candidates last year, my candidate couldn’t trump the competition with her experience and professional demeanor. If you ask me, A Woman of No Importance is as relevant now as it was in 1893."

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Besides directing, my Social Advocacy and the Ethical Life class was surprisingly helpful to my understanding of the purpose of art, and my goals as a director and artist, responsible for exploring meaning. The class is a speech class that requires each student to pick a topic that he or she will explore over multiple speeches, papers, and a debate. My argument was that resources should be put towards a gratuitous online national system of theatrical ratings that theaters can use to rate their productions. I believe that the most sensitive members of society, like families, should not have to ask around for what kind of content is in the local productions they are paying for. In the class, we read many theory articles on the ethical values of happiness, freedom, beauty, and more. Because our teacher worked for a while in museums, we read multiple articles on ethical questions involved in the practices of museums. There are so many questions about what kind of art these and other artistic institutions are responsible for putting forth, and what they should not expose the public to, especially in places like museums, where children frequently visit. Through an article by Judith Butler called “The Value of Being Disturbed,” I learned about why it is that art should shake us up and make us pause. I understood so much better why disturbing art isn’t immoral, but necessary to exploring new perspectives. These new perspectives still combined well because children’s brains perceive disturbing things differently. A ratings system would allow theaters to perform edgier art without endangering sensitive people who don’t know what they’re getting into and don’t want to go to a lot of trouble to figure out if a production is safe for their families. Thus, I learned surprising amount from an ethics class about how ethically good or detrimental art can be to society. I will keep these lessons in mind as a director when I choose what kind of flavor I want to give a production, and in clearly communicating to audiences what kind of content they can expect. Being purposeful, not just spectacular, is the important thing. Please see my SAEL paper above for a more comprehensive look at this topic.

To conclude, the opportunities I have had in the classroom, applied to real projects that raised money for great causes, was 'dulce' for me and 'utile' for my artistic abilities and for charitable causes. The directing opportunities I have had with Little Fishmaid and A Woman of No Importance have been my kind of challenge. My artistic goals and understanding of artistic responsibility have changed a lot over time, but my confidence in my ability to get things done has increased exponentially, and for that I am grateful.