Original Work 'Flows' Into Studio Theatre


09/01/2010

Current student Aaron Randolph III '02 began writing plays a few years after graduating from SAU eight years ago.

"I had been away from theatre and the arts for a few years, and I really felt like I needed a positive creative outlet," said Randolph. This theatre hiatus was a result of Randolph's getting married, having his first child and working "a bunch of demeaning jobs." Although none of his plays have yet been produced beyond a public reading, Randolph is hopeful his returning to school coupled with a continued education in Theatre will result in one of his works being fully produced.

Randolph was inspired by two sources to write this September's Studio Theatre show, A Green River. One inspiration was reading about/talking to soldiers who had returned home from the war, and the other was the song "Paradise" by John Prine. "It seems like a strange coupling of seemingly disparate concepts," admits Randolph, "and initially I was going to write separate plays about each of them." As he worked on each play separately, he realized they were telling the same story, and decided to combine them into one play.

For Randolph, the best part of writing a play is savoring the sense of completion brought about by a completed draft. "Sometimes I just stop and put off reading it for a few days so I can relish in that feeling of completion," he said, confessing that the second he begins to read a draft, he finds things to fix everywhere, which can be overwhelming.

"I've come to realize that the fun, creative part of writing a play happens in your head when you're daydreaming," said Randolph. "The roll-up-your-sleeves, frustrating, grunt work is what happens when you're sitting in front of a computer screen trying to figure out how to get it all on the page."

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