The Drama Club fights to keep theatrical arts alive at Bucks despite the lack of theater major and acting courses.
Since many of the theater courses at Bucks are found within other majors, rather than in its own field, the theatrical arts struggles to stay afloat. Acting courses are often cut because not enough people enroll. Still, those who are passionate about preforming on stage stay positive.
Leading the Drama Club is its new President, Abby Riley, a 19-year-old, Liberal Arts major of Newtown, who’s excited to start the semester with a bang. She states, “Because we have a lot of board members this semester, we’ve been able to create a fresh, new atmosphere.”
The Drama Club began with its first meeting on Sept. 14, where students had the opportunity to voice questions and ideas regarding the productions that will be drafted for the fall semester.
Music major and Vice President, Harris Moriarty, 19, of Reading, looks forward to ideas of working with fellow students; stating, “We’re open to collaborating with different courses and clubs that do any sort of writing, in order to possibly turn submissions into productions. We enjoy any and all creativity!”
The turn out for the first meeting was very promising. Roughly 20 plus attended, and according to Riley, “when people were signing up, I noticed that we had a good half and half of actors and stage crew, but we always appreciate extra hands.”
Following the start of production, the Drama Club will be raising funds to help with the cost of putting on said shows.
Communications major, Bobby Reiser, 20, of Langhorne and Treasurer of the Drama Club states, “We will hopefully be doing some fundraisers that will increase our budget and give us some publicity…bake sales, car washes etc.” Moriarty adds, “We think that putting on short productions for Bucks and local schools might also be a cool idea.”
The fall semesters seems to be focusing on contemporary plays, while the spring semester aims toward musicals.
Music major Jazmin Pachas, 18, of Warminster and secretary of the Drama Club says, “I used to be involved in the Musicals at my old high school. I took a Broadway and Contemporary class last year and learned about script writing, blocking, directing, producing, and acting in contemporary songs from musicals. I want to use my past experience to help others and to add to each performance we make together.”
Riley states, “There are theater companies that have a lot of connections with professors teaching at Bucks, so having a theater major would definitely be beneficial to us. It’s just tough to see that people may be loosing interest in drama because there’s practically nothing in the school system that supports it, professionally. So having the drama club is important to boost encouragement and keeping the arts alive.”
It was just released that the Drama Club will be performing “Harvey”.
Other information can be obtained from Abby Riley at the Clubs & Organizations center next to the Student Life desk. You do not need to be in the drama club to audition for a part. Auditions are set for Sept. 28 and 29; they are open to any and all.