Theater Interns Positively Affect Productions and Classes

To the Editors:

The recent intern position cuts made by the College in attempts to save money in light of the dwindling economy are certainly understandable and even justified. In many cases, however, the most advantageous course of action both curricularly and economically would be to keep these intern positions in the department doing what they do so well. One such case is the theater and dance department. T&D employs two nine-month interns in Hall Auditorium known as Assistant Technical Directors. These positions are absolutely crucial to the smooth operation of the theatre department and to the successful run of every performance that takes place on Hall Mainstage (i.e., the opera, the dance shows, etc.) and many performances that take place elsewhere on campus like Wilder Main (i.e., Drag Ball).
I understand that the College needs to cut back on expenses, but this is really not the place to do it. The two ATDs in Hall take the place of one full-time staff position and one intern position. This has proven to be the most economically sound method of maintaining the necessary staff in Hall to ensure the full season of performances goes up successfully.
To better understand the situation, perhaps I should elaborate on what exactly it is that these ATDs do. First and foremost they build the set and supervise the run crew for every show in Hall. That means that without these positions, the opera would have no set, and there would be no run crew to move even stock set pieces onto the stage. The opera theatre department and T&D both need sets for their shows to be successful and these performances are a valued part of Oberlin’s diverse educational opportunities and artistic experiences. Second, having these positions filled allows the full time faculty and staff in Hall to concentrate more on teaching and curricular activities and not just on producing a show. Many classes crucial to any theatre major (but especially the tech. theatre major) would therefore have to be eliminated to allow for time to build the sets. This would seriously jeopardize many students’ abilities to successfully complete their planned course of study needed for their major. Lastly, these interns also interact daily with the students who work in the shop, teaching them the basics of carpentry and set building. This knowledge is then applied in the building of sets of Drag Ball, OSTA, OMTA and OGASP sponsored shows, and almost every other theatrical event on this campus. One of these intern positions volunteered to design the set for Drag Ball this year.
Finally, I would like to reiterate the fact that I do understand the College’s need to save money, however, there is no cheaper way to get this work done and the extra work created by the absence of these positions cannot be filled by other T&D staff members. The work they do is unique to those positions and it would be unrealistic and unreasonable to ask other staff members to take on those jobs as well.
This issue needs to be resolved soon so as to fill the positions with qualified applicants for next year, so please get involved and help fight to save our interns.

–Thomas Taylor
College sophomore