HAMPTON — Faith Dry was one of four Virginia Peninsula Community College (VPCC) students awarded an internship for the annual Virginia Theatre Association Conference in late October.
She enjoyed it so much she hopes to experience it again next year but, according to the college, she would prepare for it differently.
“If I go back, I would like to do strength training, because there’s a lot of heavy lifting. I was sore for a week,” she said. “I definitely broke a sweat.”
Katie Orlowski said she had a similar experience.
“It would be nice if they instructed us to stretch,” she said.
The pair, along with fellow students Victoria Gallant and Jonnelle Weier, were members of Sandra Calderon-Doherty’s Introduction to Theater class either this semester or a previous one.
While at the conference in Richmond, they were supervised by David Garrett, former theater assistant for VPCC who’s now a visiting professor of theater at William & Mary. Calderon-Doherty said while VPCC students have participated in the event in the past, four students attending at one time is a record for the college.
The statewide conference is open to anyone but is primarily for the theater community. Doherty said it allows Virginia thespians to gather and network. The conference included competitions for middle school and high school theater programs, in addition to seminars.
The VPCC students were busy working eight hours a day, so most couldn’t participate in the seminars. Mainly, they worked behind the scenes on live performances, according to the college.
Weier, who lives in Williamsburg, is in her fifth and final semester at the college. She is studying oceanography and considers theater a hobby.
“I’ve witnessed performances for competitions like this for my high school, and I’ve been a part of theater shows, but I’ve never actually been part of the crew that helps put the show on,” said Weier, who had no specific assignment at the conference but helped where needed. “That was interesting for me.”
Dry, a Toano native studying psychology, and Orlowski, also from Williamsburg and studying business, monitored the holding room, where sets are stored when not used.
“Basically, we were there to … make sure the sets were in the right place,” Orlowski said.
They also assisted with tech run-throughs and monitored voice levels.
Orlowski, who said she also considers theater a hobby, had participated in the conference as a high school student but never worked at it. She also has participated in shows but, never on the production side.
“I really liked meeting all the different people and it was really cool to see what goes on behind the scenes,” Orlowski said. “I got to see all the problems we had to solve. I thought that was really interesting.”
Dry said she would like to take a deeper dive into theater. Attending the conference brought her back to her childhood when she was introduced to theater.
“When I was little, my mom put me into theater because I was really shy and I had no friends,” she said with a laugh. “It was the first place I felt like I could be myself. This had a very similar, if not the same, feeling. It was just nice to feel accepted and be around people who have similar interests to you.”
Calderon-Doherty expressed her appreciation for Garrett and said opportunities such as this are invaluable.
“Students engaged in this internship will have learned how to collaborate with others to bring a performance project to fruition and how to problem-solve technical and organizational aspects of staging a performance event,” she said. “They will also have had the opportunity to participate in real-world theatre activities, therefore gaining an understanding of the hard work involved, and will have been exposed to thespians from across Virginia, thereby enabling a sense of belonging among a regional community of theatre peers.”
For more information on VPCC, visit vpcc.edu.
