The Performing Arts Living Room is an annual event at Eastern University, which allows Eastern students to write, direct, and act in their own plays. While the event occurs every year, it does not always garner a lot of attention. I hope to see a lot of people attend the event this year because it is really a great time to see Eastern’s theatrical talent and watch a show that is completely created and run by students. The heads of The Performing Arts Living Room this year are seniors Carly Nuneviller and Jaclyn Parzanese. The two leaders worked hard coordinating all the actors, writers and directors to make sure everyone works cohesively together. They organized auditions and meetings for all the participants, while also keeping on top of each individual performance and its cast and crew. I greatly admire their dedication and drive for the arts and commend them for working diligently in order to let creative students’ voices be heard.
I have the great honor of designing the lights for this show. The main reason I am excited to work on this show is that many of the student directors have awesome visions for their respective pieces, and I am excited to help make that come alive.
In general, I am impressed by the professionalism displayed by all the students involved. Since we have such a small pool of actors and actresses, many performers are slated to act in several of the plays during the Performing Arts Living Room along with their projects and commitments outside of the event. Even though the time window is small, the performers are dedicating a lot of work to the shows. Most of these actors are devoting a lot time to the works they are in, during finals week no less! But all of them are dedicated to their art, and want to make the show as great as it can possibly be, so they are just ploughing through. For this, I applaud their efforts.
I think the things that make this Performing Arts Living Room different than other years is the sheer focus that is being poured into it. Not to say that dedication did not exist before, but this year everyone has really amped it up. Therefore, I look forward to seeing how the plays are received. And no matter anyone’s opinions on the different plays, every actor, actress, director and writer should be praised for their love of art and their bravery for putting themselves out into the universe. The Performing Arts Living Room: Student Showcase is a free performance at 8 p.m. on April 27.
Source: Eastern.edu