Every Tuesday and Thursday at 7 p.m., 10 students make their way down The Hill. Scripts in hand, they enter an Eisner Center classroom. On the return trip they are changed, having discovered a new play and an enriched appreciation for theater.
These students are taking part in a new theatre laboratory taught by assistant professor Eleni Papaleonardos. By the end of the semester, they will have read close to 30 plays and staged reading performances for three of them.
During her more than 20 years at Denison, Papaleonardos has heard a common lament from her students: “I don’t read enough plays.” Students struggle to find the opportunity and time to immerse themselves in the literature. Papaleonardos’ laboratory provides that, along with an even larger missing piece — developing a nuanced approach to reading plays.
“Reading plays is a skill,” she says. “It’s not just like picking up a book and reading it. And it always seems easier to read a play with a group.”
Papaleonardos worked with her students to assemble a curated list of plays. Their final selection spanned everything from century-old plays to contemporary works. Reading is only part of the experience.
At three points in the semester, students bring selected texts to life through staged readings in front of live audiences. Papaleonardos believes these performances reinforce the power of the kind of simple performances at the heart of theatre, using only a text, actors, and audience.
Many elaborate adaptations of plays, with costume, light, sound, and set design, are brought to life at the Eisner Center. But Papaleonardos is hoping that through this streamlined experience, students will find a renowned appreciation for the simplicity of theatre.
“Sometimes I think with all of this access to making things big, we have forgotten to stretch the muscle of how to make small things,” she says.
What began as an experiment has resonated deeply with her students. Even weeks into the semester, Papaleonardos fields requests to join the sessions from new students, drawn to the experience by their friends’ descriptions.
“Small things are still creative and theatrical,” she says. “We don’t have to have all the bells and whistles for it to be worthwhile, entertaining, or valuable.”
