汉娜萨奥尔来自缅因州的Almost
汉娜萨奥尔来自缅因州的Almost

走进聚光灯下

汉娜  萨奥尔

2020届毕业生•小银,新泽西
On November 16, 2019 a crowd gathered in Tawes Theater for an experience that will never again be recreated—an hour and a half later there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. 我与你, by Lauren Gunderson, a senior directing thesis from 汉娜萨奥尔 was a captivating, intelligent and thoughtful production about how we connect to others 以及我们留下的遗产.

 

“The show has this ending that in a way is tragic, but something beautiful comes from it, which mirrors real life: you can’t have the good days without the bad days. I want people to learn that it's okay to focus on the good things and to celebrate what 你有. I want people to leave the theater recognizing that good things are happening 为他们感到高兴是可以的. 我想让人们意识到他们所有的 自己的生活. 我想这是我们忘记的. 我想让人们从 表现出一种充满希望的感觉和对生活的庆祝. 我希望这场演出是一场庆典. 我很高兴我们能在庆祝活动中结束这个学期.” 

我与你 features high-schoolers Caroline, who has been homebound due to an illness, and Anthony, who barges into Caroline’s bedroom with an urgent English project regarding Walt Whitman’s 草叶. 

汉娜’s journey to closing night of her SCE was a long one, which began her freshman 跟随戏剧讲师波莉·索默菲尔德学习表演一年级. 

“I took an introductory 行为ing class to fill my fine arts requirement and 我爱d it. As I realized I didn’t want to study political science I realized I might want 学习戏剧. 波莉是我一开始研究戏剧的原因 place; to have Polly in class giving me compliments on my work was crazy because I 没想到我做得很好. 她鼓励我去参加戏剧选秀 有趣的是,我被选中了! 现在我正在攻读戏剧学位,波莉是 我在这里的原因.”

The relationships 汉娜 made throughout her time at 九州娱乐官网 have been monumental in creating a support system that 汉娜 credits to changing her life. 

“当我到达WC的时候,我很安静,不说话. 我不想让任何人知道 see me or notice me; I wanted to blend into the background. 这很容易尝试 这里有新的东西,我试着利用这一点. 我学会了新的经历 and I had people backing me up telling me even though I might not have experience 在这个领域,我做得很好. That helped a lot in my confidence; I’ve learned 对我的工作和我正在做的事情有信心. 我在我的论文中确实看到了这一点 过程,这很令人兴奋. 我更愿意被人看见. 它可能看起来很小,但是 这是我的行为和感受的最大区别.” 

汉娜 believes each of the theatre professors push her to learn the most about herself 通过信任和自由,他们为从事制作的学生提供帮助. 

“We get so much power and agency to decide what were doing when we work on a show and when we choose our thesis, it helps prepare us to figure out what we want to do 用我们毕业后的生活. 这个系允许学生亲力亲为 一步一步. 当它完成的时候,它会让它变得更加充实. 我们是如此幸运 有这样的机会.” 

“教授们希望看到我们成功,他们说,‘去做吧!,他们支持 you on that, whatever it is, but they also give us room to learn on our own. 有多少 他们信任我们——这是相互的. 如果我们做得不好,我们相信他们会告诉我们. 我知道 I can go to them at any time; their doors are always open. 他们帮助我学习 相信自己和自己做事的能力. 我大一的时候在哪里和在哪里 我现在是,他们都是其中的一部分.”

汉娜开始准备导演 我与你 her junior year, but only after long conversations with each of her theatre professors. 剧院 majors propose the play they want to produce and the discipline they want 来展示他们大三秋季学期的SCE课程. 

“When we were proposing our shows the professors said to all the rising seniors ‘you 选择我们整个赛季的学生’,这在其他学校是不会发生的. 教授们不会 want you to limit yourself, they’ll limit you when they need to – purely on the logistics 作为一个小部门,但他们不希望你限制自己. 这是一部非常成熟的电影 对话真的很酷. 他们说,‘向我们证明你为什么要这么做,’ 然后你做了.”

While 汉娜 believes she would not be where she is today without the support of others, it is easy to see the talent and hardwork bubbling out of 汉娜 and into everything 她做的.  汉娜曾在学生和教师的作品中表演,增加了一些技能,比如 as: performing multiple defined char行为ers in the same show, performing as the opposite 性别,还有哑剧表演. 

“Being on stage, as someone who wasn’t used to being noticed, was a crazy feeling. I would get really nervous and I’d start laughing from nerves, I’d get cotton mouth 我说不出话来(这种情况有时还会发生),”她解释道.  “这些闪亮的生命 这部剧是真正改变的地方吗. 我在剧院里以一段独白开场 filled with people, and that was when it clicked: I want to do this for a reason, someone gave me this role for a reason, I should have confidence in myself and do it. That feeling of being content with what I'm doing has changed my whole outlook.” 

汉娜在 这些闪亮的生命 by Melanie Marnich –a directing SCE by Rachel Treglia– where she performed as the 主演,尽管他在两场演出中都得了链球菌性喉炎.

“I’m fortunate enough to reach a place where I’m comfortable as an 行为or, where I’m comfortable with my ability to dig into char行为er work, but I’m also comfortable receiving 我的董事们的笔记. 我有机会和一些非常好的导演合作 and learn from them and gain confidence in my 行为ing abilities through them.” 

Because 汉娜 made a name for herself as an 行为ress in the theatre department, during her SCE proposal junior year she had to defend why she wanted to direct rather than 行为.

“我是跟着教授学的《九州娱乐官网》. Dale Daigle and I really liked it; I wanted to use the knowledge I’ve accumulated throughout the department and convey it to others and 用它来讲故事. 我本可以挑战自己的演员身份,但我想这么做 用这种方式挑战自己. 我以前也担任过领导职务,但这次 felt more daunting: taking on a whole show, being in charge of a group of people, 我对自己的工作充满信心,这影响了其他人的工作. 作为一名导演 必须有一个愿景,每个人的工作都必须朝着这个愿景努力. 我爱 导演,我真的很幸运. 这是我证明自己的转折点 我相信我能把事情做好.” 


As the lights came up and the 行为ors bowed, The Lumineers’ “Ho Hey” played throughout 陶斯剧院和 我与你由汉娜·绍尔(汉娜萨奥尔)执导的高级导演论文,获得了全场起立鼓掌.

汉娜的四年计划

第一年

最喜欢的课程介绍与波莉·索默菲尔德的表演

“Polly is the reason I looked into studying theater in the first place; to have Polly in class giving me compliments on my work was crazy, because I didn’t think I’d be 擅长于此. 她鼓励我去参加戏剧选秀,所以我去了,我被选中了! 表演使我获得了戏剧专业的学位.” 

第二年

九州娱乐官网Acting in Almost, Maine by John Cariani, a senior directing thesis by Abbey Wark

“Almost, Maine was the first full-production play I was cast in; which was a completely 对我来说是全新的体验. 这是一个非常协作的过程. 我玩了三个不同的 char行为ers (Glory, Marvalyn, and Rhonda), it was a challenge defining and understanding 每一个.”

三年级

九州娱乐官网同侪导师及领导

“Being a peer mentor helped with my confidence a lot as well, I share with new students why 我爱 the school, and help them through their transition into WC; which my peer mentor really helped me with, so it is nice to pass it forward onto other students.”

年4

九州娱乐官网Senior Capstone Experince: Directing and producing 我与你 by Lauren Gunderson

“Directing was going to be my challenge: taking on a whole show, being in charge of a group of people, and being confident in my work— that affected everyone else’s work. 作为一名导演 have to have a 愿景, and everyone’s work has to work toward that 愿景.”