Last Saturday, OU students in THE 100 Production Lab presented a unique program that had been in production since fall of last year: “Monologues on Film.” Featuring nine young Oglethorpe thespians in their own short movie, this special project challenged its performers to memorize lengthy monologues, improvise movement in a space and deliver a performance to a real camera crew.
Each of the nine short films pass the spotlight to a different OU actor who portrays a complex character. Navigating minimalistic sets — also designed by OU staff and students — these actors present emotionally-challenging stories exploring characters finding meaning and purpose.
“In a traditional play, there [are] usually several other people onstage with you or around the theatre,” says Associate Professor of Theatre Matt Huff, “but this project offered a much more intimate experience for everyone. It was exciting to be able to offer each student actor so much attention and focus.”
To prepare, each student rehearsed with Huff virtually. On the day of the shoot, the students were fitted with costumes and quickly got to work, running their memorized monologues several times from different angles for the camera. The stop-and-start format of the project allowed the students to experiment and improvise their delivery.
“This project really helped me step outside of myself and encouraged me to continue to open myself up,” says Chloe Campbell ’24, who is featured in the short titled “Dragon”. “I can move forward challenging myself to explore new ideas.”
Featured performers include: Summer Stockard ’24, Caroline Gammage ’23, Megan Bullock ’22, Barbara Kincaid ’23, Ana Magalhaes de Mello ’22, Sammi Rowell ’23, Chloe Campbell ’24, Camille Grier ’22, Veronica Mitchell ’22
THE 100 Production Lab is an experiential course for students that requires participation in the major stage productions each semester. The course is designed to expose students to a variety of on-stage and behind-the-scenes roles in theatre. Theatre majors at Oglethorpe must take four semesters of Production Lab and explore at least three different aspects of production throughout.
This project was brought to life with captivating cinematography by Loud South Productions, a local media production company owned and operated by Oglethorpe Theatre alumnus Weston Manders ’12.
Watch all nine short films featuring Oglethorpe students below:
