The first player points to someone and says, “zip.” The one pointed to points to another and says, “zap.” The third one pointed to says, “zop.” The game continues much the same.
University Theatre Players (UTP) recently met to discuss upcoming events and hone their improvisational skills.
UTP President Andrew Randolph will direct the first of three short plays this semester, “Piotr’s Magic Radio,” starring Angelo Gooch and Jaxen Coleman. This, “Rabbit Ears and Turtle Shells” and “Why We Like Love Stories” will be performed without a live audience at the O’Connell Theatre and streamed for general viewing and ICE credit.
A night of musical theatre is planned for next semester. Options are still under study for the main stage production which will also require streaming rights.
Two more regularly scheduled activities have become casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic. UTP improvisational show for orientation was cancelled this year. The cast normally comes to school a week early to rehearse and perform for incoming freshmen. Hope remains for an August 2021 performance.
UTP faculty advisor Professor Dewey Scott-Wiley said, “It’s a good way to let the freshman class know that the Theatre Department is alive and kicking and besides that, actors are paid with free food.”
The regularly scheduled spring Garcia Project, which brings nearby Aiken and Edgefield County high school students to campus to perform one-act plays for adjudication and awards, may not occur this year. A decision will be made in February.
“It’s a really good way to get younger people interested in the program … and introduce who we are,” said Randolf, “and it’s a good way to help out local community theatre.”
UTP members usually travel annually to participate in The Kennedy Center American Theatre Festival and the Southeastern Theatre Conference but this year these events will be online.
Scott-Wiley reflected that the group was lucky to be performing any live events as many groups have shut down completely.
The meeting concluded with boisterous improvisational games.
