Getting In On The Act
UCI Drama students participate in a play’s creation through South Coast Repertory’s NewSCRipts program By Aaron Orlowski
After performing a live reading of
an in-progress play at UCI’s Winifred Smith Hall, the actors and others working with Orange County’s South Coast Repertory theater company offered the audience of about 80 UCI drama students the kind of career advice they had probably gotten before from their professors. But hearing it again, from practicing professionals, the guidance perhaps resonated a little more: Aggressively pursue the roles that you’re confident you’re right for. Pay your dues as you hone your craft. Practice continually to keep your chops sharp. Take a lot 28
of gigs at a lot of venues. Protect your reputation by always arriving on time. These are all basic elements of succeeding in theater, says Don Hill, chair of the drama department at UCI’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts. “Sometimes we, as professors, say something, and it doesn’t really sink in for the students. But then a guest artist comes in, and they hear the same Image: The creative team from South Coast Repertory holds a A Q& with the audience after the readthrough in Winifred Smith a H l. Photo: Courtesy of South Coast Repertory (SCR)/Photo by Nicholas Pilapil
