CCM Drama Students Present Original Works During 2012 TRANSMIGRATION Festival

The 2012 TRANSMIGRATION Festival, running Feb. 16-18 at UC's College-Conservatory of Music.

CCM Drama students continue to learn what it takes to produce their own theatre pieces as they prepare for the 2012 TRANSMIGRATION Festival of Student-Created New Works taking place Feb. 16-18 throughout CCM Village.

The fourth-annual festival allows the audience to sample half-hour works produced by small groups of drama majors, who create all aspects of their productions from start to finish. Admission to the festival is free, but reservations are required.

The festival is an exciting event for both guests and the presenters, as audiences get the opportunity to see up to four pieces of new theatre in a single night and the students premiere works that are entirely their own.

“TRANSMIGRATION is student-driven and artist-driven,” says Richard Hess, chair of CCM’s Drama Department and director of TRANSMIGRATION. “Students get free reign to, as a group of people, create, cast themselves and produce a piece of work that is original and means something to them.”

TRANSMIGRATION came into being in response to the dynamic careers of today’s professional actors. Though auditioning and getting cast for roles is the conventional way for an actor to make a name for his or herself, “the second way to make work is to gather a group of like-minded people, get together and create something… students need to know how to go into a storefront theatre and say ‘we’re going to make something in this raw space’,” Hess asserts. TRANSMIGRATION gives students real-world creative experiences that will last and develop through the rest of their careers.

Some of the companies formed by current and former CCM Drama students include The Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Satori Theatre Group (Seattle), The Lost Theatre Company (New York), Cincinnati Outdoor Classics and Stokastik Theatre Ensemble (Los Angeles). Although several of these companies were formed prior to the inception of TRANSMIGRATION, the festival is added encouragement for students to venture out on their own.

“It teaches us that you are in control of your own art, no one gives you permission to make art and if you just find your people anything is possible,” says senior Cameron Davis, who is working on Knock Knock. “Ultimately there is a product that is TRANSMIGRATION, but it’s the journey that means so much to us.”

The lessons students learn from TRANSMIGRATION come from the process of collaborating in groups of 8-10 people to develop a concept, story, characters and script for their 30-minute shows. Beyond the plays, students must also construct a set, costumes, lighting design and marketing campaign for their productions, all on a budget of $60. Students do not choose their groups, but instead are assigned randomly, providing them with the opportunity to collaborate with new people with different ideas.

“The audience gets the product, but we get the process… sometimes butting heads, but in a way that sharpens the iron,” states sophomore Mia Vera, who will be presenting the historically-inspired Booth at this year’s festival. “We find our voices and we learn to harmonize; I’m learning what I love, but I’m also learning what people in my group love and how those things go together.”

This year’s TRANSMIGRATION festival will feature the works Booth, Eddie Shanahan, forget me not, Knock Knock and Y2012K. Learn more about these new works here!

Audience members will have the opportunity to customize their theater-going experience by choosing to watch up to four different productions, which are performed simultaneously in non-traditional spaces throughout CCM’s Corbett Center for the Performing Arts.

Dates and Times:
Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 18 at 2 & 7 p.m.

Location:
Various locations throughout the CCM Village, including:
Cohen Family Studio Theater
Room 3640 Corbett Center for the Performing Arts
Room 3650 Corbett Center for the Performing Arts

Tickets & Information:
Admission is free, but reservations are required and can be reserved by contacting the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183. Tickets become available Monday, February 13 at noon. Limit two tickets per order. Parking is available in the CCM Garage (at the base of Corry Boulevard off of Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. For complete reservation and parking information, visit ccm.uc.edu.

CCM Season Presenting Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Drama Studio Series Sponsor: Neil Artman & Margaret Straub