When your vision is too big to be contained within the confines of a walled room, what do you do?
You simply look outside.
This is exactly how fifth-year theater arts major Joseph Musacchia was set onto the path he’s paving today. What began as a search for a location to hold a play he had written soon became something more: a full-out endeavor to organize a festival celebrating pagan beliefs.
The Postmodern and Neoclassical Greek Open Air Theater (PANGOAT) festival is planned to be, in Musacchia’s words, “for the students, by the students.” He wants to avoid interference by faculty or staff and hopes the festival can be an entirely student-run event.
“What I am trying to do is generate interest in theater, music and dance campus-wide, not just restricted to the theater arts department,” he said. I want to “make this something that the students themselves can participate in fully without any supervision.”
The crusade began, however, with a much narrower idea. Musacchia was originally seeking a place to present a play he had recently completed, so he went to the theater arts department with his one-act work entitled “School of Life.”
Musacchia hoped that he would be able to produce it in the Pocket Theater, which presents plays directed by and starring University students every weekend throughout the school year.
There was a slight problem, however. His play was set in a Greek amphitheater. The Pocket, which is a tiny theater in Villard Hall, would not be substantial enough to accommodate Musacchia’s creation.
While walking through the EMU after discovering the disappointing news, Musacchia spotted a solution. Where else to hold a play set in an amphitheater but in the University’s very own EMU Amphitheater?
“It was like, you know, ‘idea’ — a little light bulb went on,” Musacchia said.
As Musacchia began contacting people to get the process started, and his vision began to grow. He decided that he not only wanted to perform his own play, but allow other students to do the same.
A festival of several plays quickly became a festival of artistic renditions ranging from poetry readings to dances, all with the focus on paganistic concepts. Although still in the planning stage, Musacchia envisions such additions to these festivities as fortune tellers, tarot card readers and vendor concessions.
Musacchia has made fliers to generate interest in his idea. He has also listed such uncommon solicitations as eight virgins to represent the Oracle of Delphi and people to depict ritual marriages. Musacchia insisted that paganistic beliefs are not that strange.
“I think it’s gotten a bad rap,” he said. “It’s the worship of nature and not some kind of weird thing.”
One person Musacchia has already recruited is Darren Reiley, a graduate folklore student who is writing his thesis on paganism. Reiley explained his own interest in the religious practice as a “personal, spiritual pursuit.”
“It’s really a big movement, now,” he said. “People are kind of trying to revive old, pre-Christianity [beliefs] … recognizing divinity in nature.”
Musacchia started preparations early and plans to hold the festival this October. Helping him set the ball rolling has been ASUO President Wylie Chen.
“I think an open theater would just be fantastic,” Chen said.
While Chen has assisted Musacchia in initiating the festival, there are still a few roadblocks that must be cleared. Chen has expressed hesitance in booking the festival right away because by the time it will happen, a new ASUO Executive team will be in place. He doesn’t want to push something onto the new president that perhaps he or she would not want to sponsor.
There is yet another obstacle Musacchia faces.
In order to utilize the amphitheater, those desiring to use its space must be a recognized student group. For that to happen, three organizational meetings need to be held. Musacchia arranged the first one during finals week of winter term, but turnout was fairly low.
That doesn’t kill hope, he said, that the next meeting will bring a few more people. Several people have expressed interest to Musacchia in either attending the April 4 meeting in the Coquille Room or being involved with the event in some degree. Many see merit in the idea of allowing students from all over campus to gather together and showcase their abilities.
“He’s really trying to put together an open forum for student talent and for amateur actors and writers and directors to get together,” Reiley said. “That’s one of the things that grabbed me.”
Musacchia said he would eventually like to see a student repertory group established on campus that would perform various plays throughout the year. In what could be considered a twist of irony, Musacchia has become so devoted to the idea of allowing students to run the entire festival that there is even a possibility his play will not make the cut.
The students will accept it or reject it “democratically,” and whether it is performed will be up to those arranging the event.