Back in Action: Southern’s Speech and Theatre Program

Now coming to the stage, we have Southern University’s Speech and Theatre Program. Yep, you heard it right. They are back and they are ready to hit the ground running. On Thursday, October 27, the Speech and Theatre department held their mid-semester showcase, “The Grand Opening” in the school’s theater located inside of Frank Hayden Hall. This was the department’s first show in several years. As you can imagine many people were on edge to perform being they were the ones that will get the department rolling again.
The show began with an all inclusive warm-up where each performer was able to broadcast their way of warming up as the others followed. Giving performers a chance to get comfortable on stage before diving into their individual acts. Performers had a chance to tell their stories through their work. We heard from eight individuals all putting their unique spin on things. The showcase had everything you could think of. There was comedy, seriousness, life-lessons, and more. There were also two rounds of improvisational theatre scenes. The audience was encouraged to throw out select topics for performers to go off of and bring the ideas to life.
“Southern has so much talent, I can not wait to see the program grow and really tap into its full potential. It was almost like a breath of fresh air, seeing something so different take place on our campus”, said Rondreka Zenon, a junior psychology major, who had heard about the show from a friend. The theatre world is a completely different field from other shows we see here at Southern. Now that the program is back, we can definitely start expecting more.
One of the directors, Dr. Nico Zaunbrecher, professor of speech and theatre, department of fine and performing arts, was very elated to see the show come together, “we haven’t been on this stage in you know how long…I can’t wait to put on more shows for you guys.” Both directors, Zaunbrecher and Dr. Bonny McDonald alluded to future shows to be bigger and better, also bringing a different approach for upcoming shows.
To top it all off, performers were awarded certificates for their participation and they were also granted a compliment by the department’s dean, who was very pleased with the show. She encouraged students to stay on top of things because they were all very talented and she knows they can go far. Congratulations to the speech and theatre department on a successful showcase. Stay updated, you do not want to miss any upcoming shows.