BR GING BAC THE DRA HARDING'S OLDEST ORGANIZATION MAKES A NEW APPEARANCE WORDS Madison Ed1vards I I PHOTOS Kazu Fujisawa Campus Players, founded in 1924, was Harding's oldest organization club where students of any major came together and enjoy each other's company, took a break from the stresses of school and became involved around campus with mixers and theatrical events. However, over the years the club's attendance dwindled. Tn recent years, there had been an effort to bring the historic club back to its former glory. Senior Kara Treadwell, president of Campus Players, attributed the renewal of the club to the effort of feliow club members and sponsors, like Seth Fish, assistant technical director. "Last year we decided we were going to make this an official club again," Treadwell said. "One of the faculty members at Harding, Seth Fish, heard what we were trying to do and wanted to sponsor us. Last year was our fust year as an official club and this year is our first year to do a production." Members of Campus Players met up to work on theatr pieces from class, but they also did activities that were not class related as well, according to junior Sydney Sanford, vice president of Campus Players. 'W e get together and do [improvisation] nights, karaoke nights and stressfree nights where we wear pajamas, watch YouTube videos and eat snacks," Sanford said. "It's a cool chance for people to hang out and do theatre things even if you're not a theatre major, and it's a good chance for theatre people to hangout in a space other than work. We have functions, we have formals [and] we are hoping to have jerseys soon. We are [slowly] becoming more official." Treadwell was excited about the growth of Campus Players in the two years she had been involved and had big plans for the organization. "I love reaching out to the underclassmen," Treadwell said. "That was something that meant a lot to me when I was a freshman, so when freshmen came [to our events], I was really excited to reach out and give them a place where they felt they instantly belonged. Something they didn't have to audition for, get a grade for, join a club or pledge to be a part of a community right off the bat." Campus Players presented their first theatre performance of the year, "Cagebirds," from ov. 9_-11, 2017. The performance was a fundraiser and the profits were donated to Partners Against Trafficking Humans (PATH), a charity of the cast's choice. Senior Claire Hayostek appreciated the production. "My favorite part about "Cagebirds" is it's an all-female cast," Hayostek said. "[Also, a] lot of the characters' struggles point them to Christ, and I hope Christians viewing the show can take that away too." Sanford and Treadwell planned to continue the growth of Campus Players and hoped to have a theatre production each year. "It's been really cool to see Campus Players grow the past two years, and we_ want it to keep growing it and expand to more non-theatre majors," Treadwell said. "People are always welcome and it's not a large commitment. You just show up and have a blast." I "Cagebirds" is an allegorical play in which a group of women are trapped in a room, satisfied with entertaining themselves. The women are obsessed with their own characteristics. A plot twist forces the individuals to see their situation in a different light resulting in a variety of emotions at the realization of potential freedom. II Photos by Kazu Fujisawa ~ u5 0 m r ~ z m 0 C (./) ::::::: II.) 0) . CD
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