Tiffany Chen April 2, 2013 English 1103 Keaton Lets Fund Theatre!

CHARACTERS: CHEN: Inquirer for theatre funding. PETERSON: Theatre event correspondent. WAGNER: Donor to student theatre productions. EDES: Quotes people from Emerson College and keeps to the facts. CURRIS: Scholarship owner the College of Humanites, Arts and Sciences at the University of Northern Iowa .

SETTING: Waiting in the Robinson lobby to go and see Romeo.Juliet at UNCC.

(ALL standing and sitting by a bench) CHEN PETERSON Glad you all could come to see Romeo.Juliet with me. Of course, who could miss this? It reminds me of a student fundraiser I went to earlier this year. WAGNER Student fundraiser you say?

(EDES grabs out a notepad and prepares to write) PETERSON Yes, the students decided to put together an event that raised money for future student productions. The students at the University of Florida are a savvy bunch. EDES (mumbles) How interesting (looks up to see everyone watching her) Oh, my apologies, please continue. CHEN I wish that UNCC would fund student productions more. Wagner, does student fundraising interest you? WAGNER Well, recently I donated $2.2 million to the UC San Diego Division of Arts and Humanities Student Production Fund. My wife and I love theatre and if we can help the students focus on that, well, we are happy to give them the funds necessary. CURRIS I agree that students should have funding, however, our students at the University of Northern Iowa have to work for the funds that they get with

proposals. Dont you think that funding the students with a donation that large will just make them ungrateful? WAGNER Not at all! I think that they are able to produce more and can focus on a creative way to use the money rather than scraping together money or cancelling a production because they cannot fund it anymore. PETERSON I agree with Wagner, however, I think that it is a good thing for the students to find creative ways to gain funding without having to rely so heavily on donors. CHEN EDES Edes, do you have an opinion on what they said? (Stops writing) Oh, well, I have to say that at Emerson College, two students created a non-profit organization. They went through all of the official paperwork and worked very hard to expand and diversify what they perform. CHEN EDES Diversify how? Oh, you know, poetry slams, play readings, one act plays, etc. I think that they are doing amazing work, they even have a cool name for their group: Atomic Age. CURRIS EDES So, how do they get their funding? Well, Atomic Age is the schools only student-run nonprofit organization (Edes, 1). For the most part they get donors to give them money but they also get a budget of $2,000 dollars.

WAGNER

Thats great! I do hope that other colleges will follow suit to what those students at Emerson College have done, they have set a good example.

CURRIS CHEN CURRIS

Sounds lovely compared to what we offer our students. What do you mean? Well, we fund art, theatre and music which dont allow us to give a larger amount for funding unless the proposal tells us the necessity of it. We offer $500.00 to proposals that meet our requirements. The actual amount of the award will depend on the quality of the application, as well as the costs involved in completion of the project (Curris, 1).

CHEN CURRIS

Can they get more? Well, sure, if they have legitimate reasons for why they need more funding. We put a limit at $500.00 so that we have enough to give to the students who are creating work.

PETERSON

Worry not about the amount. Unfortunately, as far as I know, we dont have the funds to give students. This year, [dance and theatre] worked together to raise as much money for scholarship and program support as possible (Peterson, 1).

CHEN

It is true, as Peterson said, that your amount is smaller but it doesnt mean that it is not beneficial, it truly helps all of the students who ask funding from you. Curris, you are always there for students and dont turn them

away if they need some more, you allow them to negotiate the terms of the amount of money. WAGER Yes, among the students helping out, I think that we still need private donors to support the students as much as the students needs to learn to gain the money. As you know, though, Private support is critically needed to help continue the valuable training experience students need, including funding actual productions and associated program expenses. EDES (stops writing) Well, for Atomic Age, Being a public charity means the organization is funded directly or indirectly by the general publicIt survives through tax deductible donation and profits from tickets (Edes, 1-2). Also, The founders said Atomic is a way for everyone involved to develop real-world skills most college students would never get exposed to until after graduation (Edes, 2). WAGER Students also have to understand that in this day and age Contemporary theaterits visual, its digital. Our students have to keep up with the times. To find work within theater, you have to be able to do these things (Wagner, 2). CHEN All of you guys want to help students succeed in their craft, which is amazing. I do wonder, however, what about the benefits that students get? WAGNER Well, for my wife and I, It has been a true lifes passion to build and to nurture Theatre and Dance at UC San Diego (Wagner, 3). So with our

donation we aimed to get the students active in student productions and for donors to see the importance of the work that the students can create. EDES For the students at Atomic Age they tend to have found a difference between working in the department and working for themselves. (Goes through notepad to find quote) These are [skills] a student usually might only have access to through an internship, where you can learn a small facet of it and, if youre lucky, can use it in the future, said Roginsky. But with this, you have to really get it (Edes, 2). CURRIS Well put! I think that students really do need to understand what they are doing and there is no other way than to just get into it and soak it all in. PETERSON Students just need a cause that they all believe and aim for it with all of their resources and hands. I spoke to Natalie Morrison, the coordinator of the development programs and donor fulfillment for the fine arts college (Peterson, 1) and she told me [The students working together create] a really new and great synergy, it really merges the passions of each organization (Peterson, 1). (Conversation ceases as house opens and ALL go inside to see Romeo.Juliet) Fin