Caro Elliott ’23, a theatre and environmental studies double major, has created an environment of expression here at Denison. With her creative environment concentration in ENVS and her environmental storytelling emphasis in Theatre, she has combined her interests in order to study her true passion.
Q&A:
What made you interested in becoming a theatre major?
I’ve been performing since I was five years old. I grew up doing ballet and fell in love with being on stage. I was drawn to the storytelling side of ballet and eventually felt more comfortable in theatre than I did dance.
How do you balance your double major? Is there any overlap with classes?
Luckily there is some overlap between my two majors. In ENVS, I have a creative environments concentration and in theatre, I have an environmental storytelling emphasis. I’ve been able to take a few classes that count for both, so that has made it easier to balance. I love both of my majors, so balancing the two isn’t always a challenge.
What are your favorite aspects of the theatre major? Have you taken any classes that you particularly enjoyed?
Oh my goodness there’s so much I love. I love the people here. I’m taking Devising and Collective Making with Eleni Papaleonardos this semester, and it’s such a great class. We’re working as an ensemble in that class, and it’s really exciting to see what happens through collaboration. Denison recently revised the theatre major to focus on theatre making. That focus has helped me find my voice as an artist and has given me a creative outlet.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
There are two other experiences that I’ve enjoyed. Last semester I was in the cast of Everybody, written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. From the firepits, to the show itself, to performing in front of an audience for the first time in like, two years, it was great. I also did a directed study with Dr. Bryan where we looked at how theatre has interacted with environments. Basically, it was super cool to look at the intersection between the two in such depth.
