The vitality of Harvard’s theater community is only increasing, with more shows going up this spring than in any prior semester in recent memory. The stress on the theater infrastructure produced by the unprecedented 31 shows slated for runs this semester has raised important questions about the future of student theater at Harvard: do the current processes for theater space allotment serve the current needs of the theater community? And do more productions on more stages necessarily mean better theater? Meanwhile, the difficulty of procuring space has inspired several groups of students to take their shows in new and innovative directions, seeking out unconventional venues and aiming to present the Harvard community with productions that challenge their conception of on-campus theater.

GROWTH AND CHANGE

There are two central channels for the allocation of Harvard’s stage space: the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club and the Office for the Arts. The HRDC is responsible for allocating space in the Loeb Drama Center, which has two stages: the large Loeb Mainstage, which hosts two shows per semester, and the smaller, more intimate Experimental or Ex, which hosts six to eight shows per semester. The OFA is responsible for determining which shows will receive space in Farkas Hall and Agassiz Theater, as well as allocating grant funding for productions.

The application process for the spring semester begins in late November with pre-applications, which list director and producer information alongside a synopsis of the show. A full application quickly follows in early December. It includes not only director and producer names but also a full staff list, with positions running the gamut from props mistress to assistant lighting designer. The final step is an interview with the board of the venue applied for, during which board members ask the production staff questions, in order to get a detailed handle on the look and feel of the show. These range from straightforward questions about staff members’ level of experience, to queries directed at directors and designers regarding their creative visions for the show.

“Basically, what the HRDC is looking for is shows that have a really strong vision, shows that we think people want to act in, that would benefit the community, not just the people who are excited about the show and already on staff,” President of the HRDC Alexandra M. Kiley ’14 says. Other factors taken into consideration include the practicability of a show’s design plans, the experience level of its staff, and the completeness of its staff. “One question we always ask,” Kiley says, ‘“Is ‘What is one mistake you made on your last production, and how do you plan on remedying that?’” After a show is approved, the next important step comes at the beginning of the season with Common Casting, when shows hold auditions for actors en masse.

These processes have served the Harvard theater community well for years. However, this semester has seen an explosion of productions—three times the typical number of shows applied for HRDC space, which, even accounting for the typical ebb and flow in the number of productions per semester, is unprecedented. As a result, the typical processes are being strained in terms of both personnel and space.

THE PERSONNEL SCRAMBLE

According to Allen J. MacLeod ’14, director of this spring’s “The Drowsy Chaperone,” filling up the cast of a production can be a challenge. “It’s becoming more and more competitive not just to get space, but once you have space, to get actors,” he says. But perhaps the greatest demand is for technical staff. “Whenever you feel that it is appropriate, you start emailing people trying to compile a team of producers and [a] stage manager, lighting designers, things of that nature, and it’s just sort of an arbitrary system,” MacLeod says. “There’s no set start date. So what you find is that every year people start asking earlier and earlier, ‘Will you be on my team?’”

The struggle to find personnel for productions this season has caused some to feel considerable dissatisfaction regarding the production application process. “Especially because not everyone gets space, you find people signing onto multiple projects, and sometimes it works out that they only get to do one or two, but sometimes it’s like, ‘Oh, the projects I signed onto happened to be up, and I have to set-design for four shows’—which has happened,” MacLeod says. “The system is sort of—well, that’s the problem. There is no system. There is an end goal—to have a team ready by X date—but there is no system. People find themselves overcommitted, under-committed, or scrambling to find people.”

Evan R. Schueckler ’15, stage manager for the recent Dunster House Opera production of “Così fan tutte,” is all too familiar with the demand for technical staff. “I’ve been a stage manager a number of times here,” Schueckler says. “Some semesters I’ve had as many as seven shows ask me to stage manage. The theater community is very stretched for technical staff, and it’s very stressful for people.”

Kiley concurs. “The people who do tech, people like light designers, get about a million e-mails at the beginning of the semester, and it’s a little overwhelming and a little bit stressful,” she says.

Concerns about increasingly early staff recruitment have prompted the HRDC to plan on revising the application process. “The HRDC is looking to...possibly have Ex shows apply with just a producer and director, as opposed to a full staff, and have that staff recruitment process happen after a show [gets space], so that the decision process will be based more on the tightness of the design and the director’s vision,” Kiley says. “With the shows that got space, designers would have a lot more agency.”