
Repertory Theatre Term Inspires, Changes Lives
(Pictured above: a performance of The Children's Hour; students hard at work on the sets of The Laramie Project; a panel discussion with Knox Rep Term alumni; and a reception with alumni, faculty, and current students to celebrate Repertory Theatre Term.)
Olive Colangelo '20 came into Rep Term having recently developed an interest in lighting and sound design. She was cast in both
“I wanted a way to improve my knowledge and skills in both onstage and off-stage activities, and doing this every day for nine weeks certainly did that,” said Colangelo, who had only acted before Rep Term.
“Along with Jo Hill '20, I was responsible for fixing, circuiting, hanging lights, and making neat designs with them,” she added. “This was my first experience actually designing sound for a show, so I had to teach myself a lot of audio editing tricks.”
Senior Shannon Mindlin felt especially connected to The Children’s Hour. It was the first play she ever did in high school and the last faculty-directed show she was involved with in college. She played two character roles in the play and served as house manager for The Laramie Project.
Mindlin enjoyed being involved in Knox’s production as it was more than just a static period piece that was no longer relevant. “It put a modern spin on a play that seems to be so time-locked in its writing. We focused this production around the concept of lies spreading through social media and the idea that once something is on the internet, it can't go away,” she said.
Looking back at the term, Mindlin and Colangelo found that the theatre company grew together as the term progressed.
“I loved being in rehearsals and seeing each person grow as an actor onstage and as a theatre student backstage,” Mindlin said. “I was also able to watch people that might have not been given the position of leadership thrive and learn what it means to lead a crew.”
“The fact that we all took absolute responsibility for our individual jobs was crazy. We all knew why we were there, and we loved it,” Colangelo added. “Even though it got a little stressful at times, it was so worth it.”
Published on March 16, 2019