走进聚光灯下

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. I and You, by Lauren Gunderson, a senior directing thesis from Hannah Sauer 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 you have. 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 own lives are. 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.” 

I and You 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 Leaves of Grass. 

Hannah’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 acting class to fill my fine arts requirement and I loved it. As I realized I didn’t want to study political science I realized I might want to study theatre. 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 reason I’m here.”

The relationships Hannah made throughout her time at 九州娱乐官网 have been monumental in creating a support system that Hannah 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.” 

Hannah 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 step of the way. 当它完成的时候，它会让它变得更加充实. We are so lucky 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. How much 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. I know 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 I and You her junior year, but only after long conversations with each of her theatre professors. Theatre 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. It's a very adult 对话真的很酷. 他们说，‘向我们证明你为什么要这么做，’ and then you do.”

While Hannah 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 Hannah and into everything she does.  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 characters 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 actor, where I’m comfortable with my ability to dig into character 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 acting abilities through them.” 

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

“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. As a director you 必须有一个愿景，每个人的工作都必须朝着这个愿景努力. I love 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 actors bowed, The Lumineers’ “Ho Hey” played throughout Tawes Theater and I and You由汉娜·绍尔(Hannah Sauer)执导的高级导演论文，获得了全场起立鼓掌.