Nods to Drake Union live on in new theatre building
Students and teachers in the Department of Theatre, Film and Media Arts will learn and work next to reminders of a strong legacy.
As J. Briggs Cormier ’05 PhD led visitors through the new home of the Department of Theatre, Film and Media Arts this summer, the stunning spaces bathed in natural light were calm and expectant.
No more.
As you read this, these next-level academic accommodations are bustling with students exploring, creating and producing. And Cormier is well into rehearsals for the first production in the new building, “She Kills Monsters,” which he is directing.
During the five-story structure’s quiet phase, he explained how elements of the old Drake Union have made their way to the new building.
Those pieces of history and the discoveries of generations of faculty and alumni form a strong foundation for today’s students.
Our branded ghost light
In the theatre world, a ghost light is placed downstage center, illuminating the space when not in use and preventing anyone entering an otherwise dark room from injuring themselves. Superstition holds that the light is there to ward off the ghosts who have come to live in the theatre over the years. The metal frame of Ohio State’s ghost light spells “OSU.”
Members of Ohio State’s theatre family cross campus one rainy April day to escort the ghost light from the Drake Performance and Event Center to its new home. (Photo by Andy Gottesman)
Creations for characters
Adorned in an elegant hat, shirt and jacket, a mannequin stands in the new costume studio. Here, visitors can watch students working at sewing machines, cutting tables, a dye vat and other fixtures of the bright space — an upgrade from Drake’s windowless lower level. Across the hall are 5,000 pieces of clothing, the culled costume inventory that made the move. Last spring, the department invited area high school and theatre reps to browse through and choose pieces from the rest. (Photo by Betsy Becker)
From Thurber’s finale
Materials from the set of “The Country Wife,” the last play in Drake’s Thurber Theatre, make up this piece on the second floor of the new building. It was created by Carrie Gillen, an artist who worked in set design and theatre production in her first few years out of grad school. Staged in 2022, “The Country Wife” was directed by Associate Professor Tom Dugdale and Professor and Chair E.J. Westlake, with scenic design by Jessica Hughes ’21 MFA. Written by William Wycherley and first produced in 1675, the play spent nearly 200 years banned from stage and print because of its risqué language and scandalous storyline. (Photo by Jodi Miller)
The colors of resilience
This ruched fabric piece, also created by Gillen, captures the color palette of the costumes in “The Seagull” (2021), the department’s first post-pandemic live production. It was staged in the Roy Bowen Theatre and directed by Cormier, adjunct assistant professor and external relations coordinator, with costume design by Professor Emerita Kristine Kearney. The colors were inspired by stormy skies over a lake in upstate New York, the setting for this adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s dark comedy about desire, ambition, creativity and family. (Photo by Jodi Miller)
