Furthering social and acting skills in Theatre Club

By: Akbar Reid

Staff Writer

Theatre Club allows students to work together to perform and transform the audience and themselves into a world of imagination.

The Theatre Club gives opportunities to students to discover, build upon and display their talent. Members get the chance to write and direct their own play and work as a team to present it to the public.  

Rosanne Raneri, club adviser and fine theatre arts and digital media assistant professor, mentioned ways that the Theater Club and its activities have an opening for many areas of study.

“If I had to choose a real standout highlight [of the club], it’s to see the excitement that Theatre Club participants experience when they produce their own works,” Raneri said.  

“The night I got to see the one act I had written called “Them” [and] getting to see it all come together- it was really just this gorgeous show, and all these amazing actors going on stage having a great time,” Brianna Thompson, individual studies major, said. “It was a fantastic experience getting to sit there and watch them.”

Sumner Jewell, club president and physics major, explained how fun the club has been to be a part of. He also described the club being a great experience.

“Theatre offers an opportunity to consider subjects and topics in an interdisciplinary way,” Raneri said. “We employ language, voice and movement [and] it gets very athletic,” she said. “There’s a lot of theory and philosophy that comes into our discussions.”

Elisheva Alfatto, club vice president and theatre major, gave different ways it has benefited her.

“It’s something I get a lot out of, as someone who does a lot of theatre [and] it’s a situation where I get to let loose,” she said. “I like to try and help other people let loose and find different ways to have fun with theatre.”

“The biggest advantages that the club offers is the ability to grow, engage and improve socially [and] sharpen communication skills,” Raneri said. “Theatre studies is about learning how not to fear interaction with other people,” she said. “[People] hold onto a fear of interaction with other people because we’re not sure we’ll be judged.”

“It gives you a great chance to meet people of other natures [and] I’ve been able to meet a lot of new people and get know them,” Sonya Ward, club treasurer and marketing major, stated.

“It really puts the community in community college, there’s great people and it’s so much fun,” Lilly Briggs, individual studies major, said.

“Theatre says ‘we empower not only ourselves but other people’ by sharing, by giving more, by revealing,” Raneri said. “It certainly helps nonverbal and verbal communication skills [as] we develop them through theatre art.”