Hiding somewhere within Villard Hall is an entity known as the Pocket Playhouse. Some people have ventured there to behold its mysteries, but to those who have not it lies veiled in secrecy. Well, no more!
The Pocket Playhouse is a 100 percent student-run theater. It hosts as many as eight shows each term, which usually run Thursdays through Saturdays beginning at 5 p.m.
The mission statement of the Pocket is to provide an arena for students to get involved in all aspects of theater, regardless of prior experience. This means that anybody at the University can be involved in the Pocket, as long as they have paid their incidental fees. The Pocket presents a unique opportunity to University students.
“It’s a very rare operation to have a student-run theater on campus,” said Pocket board co-chair Rowan Morrison.
Perhaps even rarer is the fact that Pocket shows cost only $1 to enjoy. There is a suggested donation of a buck at the door, which is humorously tossed into a bedpan. This makes the Pocket not only a performing venue for theater students, but a financially feasible option for arts lovers.
John Sharpy, a Pocket board reporter/web coordinator, said jokingly, “It’s the best theater in town…”
“…for a buck,” finished Bruce Ramseyer, Pocket board director’s liaison. The Pocket was started in 1991 after the theater program became its own department. Before that, the theater program was combined with the speech program at the University.
One might ask, why call it the Pocket?
The name comes from the theater’s small size, Sharpy said.
“It’s about the size of a pocket,” he said.”And it’s all dark and linty,” added Holly Johnson, Pocket board faculty liaison.
Though they were joking about the lint, the Pocket is fairly small, with only 72 seats. But hey, size doesn’t matter. Also, people going to the Pocket should not expect elaborate sets or complex pyrotechnics.
While there is a $75 stipend to cover expenses, many items, from props to costumes to technical equipment, are borrowed from the Pocket’s own supply or the University theater department.
The Pocket is funded entirely by the ASUO and money raised from fundraising activities organized by the Pocket board.
Despite its size and financial limitations, the Pocket is still a credible theater.
“We do everything a normal theater company would except plan a season, because of the lottery,” said Pocket board co-chair Rhaetia Hanscun.
The “lottery” is the method which the students use to choose the plays that will run and the order they will run in. Students who wish to direct a show submit a proposal sheet along with a copy of the script they would like to produce by a certain due date determined each term.
The due date for submissions for the fall term 2000 season is May 16. Proposals can be picked up in the Green Room or at the web site, http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~pocket.
All submissions will be put in a lottery to make the selections. The Pocket board does not judge scripts based on content, only on time constraints and the physical plausibility of making the show work in the space available.
Pocket shows are not limited to published shows. Many students write the scripts that are performed.
This creates an opportunity for aspiring writers as well as student actors and directors to gain experience. Last term, six of the eight shows were authored by students. This term, four of the eight scripts were student-written.
Every term the theater hosts four to eight shows, depending on how many feasible script submissions are received by the board. The board is the group of 12 individuals behind the scenes that make everything in the Pocket work. They get the rights for shows, make posters, help with sets, etc.
But aside from that, the board is also responsible for other events in the community such as the Shakespeare’s birthday celebration on May 1 and the “Shankies” awards held June 4.
“We really try our best to represent theater students as a whole,” said Ramseyer.
Nominations for next year’s Pocket board elections are due May 2. Voting is open to all students and takes place in the Green Room of Villard Hall on May 5.
The room on the bottom floor,is a little hard to find, but anyone in the building can point you to it. It’s where auditions and play promotions as well as other information will be posted.