While winter is usually a time for curling up with a favorite book and a warm blanket or binge-watching shows on Netflix, the Williston theatre is bustling with energy, excitement, and the sound of power tools and sewing machines. Between rehearsals for  Theatre Lab (our student one-act festival) and our spring production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It, each week there are over 50 people working about 25 hours in the theatre.

Needless to say, we don’t get out of the building much this time of year, but it works out fine for us when the temperatures are sub-zero and the sun barely shines. If you happen to find yourself in Scott Hall in the afternoon you are likely to discover a building teeming with small pods of actors, directors, designers, and stage managers working on one of the five one-acts that will make up our Theatre Lab performance.

If you head into the scene shop you will see technicians building walls, ramps, and doorways for the modular Theatre Lab set. Making your way into the very back of the building, you will see a costume shop exploding with fabric and the sound of multiple sewing machines going at once.  If you stumble into the building after dark you will hear the raucous laughter of actors finally getting Shakespeare’s bawdy jokes or (in a more focused moment) actors flipping through the First Folio to get a better sense of Shakespeare’s text, and of course, a stage manager meticulously recording everything.

We are excited to keep you posted on all of these events, not to mention the great things that are happening in classes (even more Shakespeare!) . Check back soon for an in-depth look at our first few rehearsals for As You Like It.