Color, Grace, and Levitation...

As the inaugural post of the Willamette University Theatre production blog, I would like to take a moment to welcome you - We are so excited to provide an in-depth look into the process of building a show here at WU, and hope that you will visit again soon! Check back for photos of work in the various production areas of our department, as well as input from several designers that make it all possible.

That being said, "what is 'Color, Grace, and Levitation'?" In searching for a catchy and dare-I-say clever title for our new blog, I began sifting through various quotes along the lines of "What is theatre?" One of the most striking, I feel, came from American playwright Tennessee Williams, author of such well-loved pieces as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and A Streetcar Named Desire...

So, Mr. Williams, what is theatre?

"The color, the grace and levitation, the structural pattern in motion, the quick interplay of live beings, suspended like fitful lightning in a cloud, these things are the play, not words on paper, no thoughts and ideas of an author, those shabby things snatched off basement counters at Gimbel's. " -Tennessee Williams, Afterword to Camino Real

Ultimately, this is what we do here at Willamette Theatre. We take the "color, grace, and levitation..." created by playwrights, and we build a world for it. We take those everyday things, those instances we so often take for granted, and we make them magical. And we share them with you. That is our job. That is our passion.

Our first show of the 2008-2009 Season is William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, directed by guest artist Michael Brusasco. Please check back soon for photos and progress reports from the people that make it all happen!

-Willamette University Theatre