The Wager--what is theater all about?

No one can deny that theater is an active part of the artistic community on this campus. But it seems as though students have forgotten what theater is really about. That is, theater needs only two things: performers and an audience. This is why seeing The Wager, by Mark Medoff, this past weekend was such a breath of fresh air.

A group of five students-seniors Arthur Simon, Cory Wallace, Rajiv Punja, Jessica Kapelke-Dale, and Ben Grubb, got together and decided that they wanted to produce a play. And so they did-without the support of any student theater organization or the department of Theater and Dance.

This is not to say that this support should not be sought out. Both the Oberlin Student Theater Association (OSTA) and the Oberlin Musical Theater Association (OMTA), and the department, are vital to the success of theater at Oberlin. However, students should not be afraid to pursue independent projects. This too is an important part of our education-learning how to be self starters.

This theatrical project started when the audience first entered the space, Asia House Co-op. This is not the first show to go up in a dorm or some other non-traditional setting, but The Wager was different. There was none of the elaborate equipment that most shows need to use to make a non-traditional space work.

The dining room lights were on, the Co-op chairs had been arranged to create the audience area, and the set was just a collection of dorm and Co-op furniture. It was the exact opposite of walking into a mainstage production at Hall, or into Little Theater, which is very formal, comparatively. And this is what was so nice about it; the audience felt comfortable. Even during the show an occasional audience member would comment on the action happening on stage. This is something that could never happen, or be tolerated, in a more traditional setting.

Because of the minimal set and the fact that the characters were obviously wearing their own clothes, the lack of budget was also very noticeable. But again, students are so used to seeing high budget productions like the opera or other mainstage shows that they lose sight of the fact that one does not need money to produce a play. This too was refreshing.

Hall's costumes are beautiful, and the sets and lighting are always well done, but they are ultimately unnecessary. The lack of budget should not be a deterrent to producing a show. Whether or not a show is produced should be based on how the show effects the reader, how it can effect the audience, if it is something that the performers really believe in or want, and not on how much money the production has or whether or not it can go up in Little Theater. To be sure, often Little Theater is desired simply because it is the easiest and the most logical.

But, truth be told, The Wager worked exceptionally well in the space it ended up with. However, no one from the cast will deny that finding space was the one of the biggest challenges that faced them. When asked about this Simon said, "It was very stressful," but that "Asia House Co-op came to the rescue and we are very grateful for that. It was a nice space." And it was-the cast could not have asked for anything better.

Finally, a show that is not sponsored by an organization or the department is a show that owes nothing to anyone. In other words, it takes an incredible amount of self-discipline to gather a group of friends together and produce a show. Rehearsal times must be strictly adhered to, and everyone must be willing to work 100 percent.. This is often easier to do when there is the watchful eye of some type of authority figure hovering over the process making sure that everything gets done.

This is perhaps the hardest part of this independent process because it is not just getting together and playing around on stage. Everyone must be willing to contribute equally, and finding a group that dedicated is often hard to come by. This is also perhaps the highest compliment that could be paid to the cast of The Wager; their dedication was well worth it and greatly appreciated, and hopefully people will begin to follow in their footsteps.

Ultimately, this was a great theatrical experience not because there were elaborate sets and costumes, but because everyone involved wanted to be a part of this process. And this is what theater should be about.