Savannah Brooks ’26
Managing Editor
Whether you are a frequent patron of local theater, a film fanatic or you just really like watching “The Office,” chances are you appreciate artists. The SAG-AFTRA strikes of summer 2023 reminded us that A-listers like Leonardo Dicaprio and Meryl Streep are far from the only laudable artists whose work we appreciate; background actors, choreographers, acrobats, lighting designers, and anyone working on a film, TV or theatrical production contribute key skilled work to the final product. It is far too common for these artists to be pushed aside and told that they do not deserve to be paid or treated fairly; after all, so many would kill to be in their shoes, doing the work that they do. The artists in these spaces have made huge strides in preventing unfair treatment; the involvement of intimacy coordinators, for instance, is a recent development on both screen and stage that allows actors to be far safer when filming or staging intimate scenes. These safety measures and union movements that provide for better, safer and more equitable working environments in artistic spaces allow artists to be freer and more creative in their work.
The opportunity for artists to have the best working environment possible should not only exist at the highest professional level. The Theater and Dance major at Trinity is small, but mighty; four student shows a year and a plethora of classes in several disciplines allow students to learn about what it means to learn the theory and practice of the performance arts. However, the department seems to be shrinking. In 2024, it graduated only seven majors, and is on track to graduate even fewer in 2025. This is not inherently bad — a smaller department allows for intimate classes and opportunities for non-majors to participate in productions. However, the amount of interest in department productions in the 2023-24 academic year (around 30 auditioners for the fall and spring play and a massive increase in dancers in the fall concert from the 2022-23 fall show) demonstrates that the department’s lack of majors is not necessarily due to a lack of interest in the discipline. More likely, it is due to the unmatched barriers to entry.
The Theater and Dance major, in many senses, is arguably the most difficult major at Trinity (STEM majors, keep reading, I promise I will make it worth your time). This is not because of class structure or homework assignments; rather, it is because of the amount of hours a major must complete to fulfill the major. While the major is advertised as an 11-credit major, look deeper and you will find that majors also must participate in three departmental productions as well as complete 90 hours of unpaid production work (i.e., being a crew member for a production or helping with building sets). As a frequent participant in department productions, while acting in them is only worth .5 credits, these productions often require far more hours of work than any 1-credit course. In essence, on top of their 11 credits, Theater and Dance majors must complete around 315 extra hours of unpaid, uncredited work to graduate. To put this in perspective, a 1-credit course at Trinity requires 35 hours of time in-class. Additionally, studio courses in the Theater and Dance major are two hours per class for the same amount of credit for a 1 hour 15 minute course.
Due to the unfavorable conditions of the major, many students at Trinity who are interested in the discipline of Theatre and Dance have turned to student clubs in order to gain experience working with other artists. The department has recognized this, and rather than working to make the major more equitable and fair, has made a concentrated effort to restrict these clubs as much as possible. In an Aug. 23 email to leaders of Theater and Dance related clubs who use studio space in Trinity Commons (Dance Company, Elemental Dance Team, Movable Joints, Musical Theater Club and Ballroom Club), Associate Professor of Theater and Dance Rebecca Pappas sent a document entailing the new department policies for clubs who use studio space. The document begins by making it clear that student clubs are at the bottom of the department’s priority list, and continues by outlining requirements that student clubs must have a Theater and Dance faculty advisor, cannot hold programming open to the public without written permission from the department chair (for most clubs, unless audition-based, every meeting is open to the public) and cannot hold meetings in Theater and Dance spaces during Theater and Dance class times. The document also notes that clubs should make “every effort” to not hold meetings during any production rehearsal times. This generally restricts clubs to only holding their meetings Friday during the day or on the weekends in the morning. Additionally, the document notes that the department can only support up to four clubs, implying that one of the clubs included in the email must dissolve or find space elsewhere.
The efforts of the Theater and Dance department to place such heavy restrictions on clubs, who provide freedom, learning and socialization focused around the very discipline they teach, is a disheartening example of members of the industry pulling up the ladder behind them so no one else can use it. One of the greatest benefits of art is its universality; anyone can be an artist, no matter how experienced. Considering the difficulty of finding a job in any field of art (unless your dad made a Marvel movie), those who are able to find success and joy in the industry should teach those who hope to one day have that success how to work to obtain it, particularly when one’s success revolves around academia and teaching. Restricting learning environments and preventing students from working together to create their own art goes against the very mission of an educational institution. The leadership of the Trinity Theater and Dance department is seemingly making every effort to turn potential artists away, rather than embracing them and encouraging them to find their passions. Students who cannot afford to work 200 hours of unpaid and uncredited labor should at least be able to turn to their fellow students to be able to make art.
Being an artist does not have to include being taken advantage of, and it is a shame that the leadership of the Theater and Dance department values leeching off of impressionable and wide-eyed students more than creating an equitable and engaging environment for anyone to learn in. They must heed their shrinking interest in majoring as a warning. Completing tech work and performing should, at the very least, count towards the 11 credits that make up the major. In fact, many students in the major would benefit even more from a course about tech work rather than being tacked on to a production, as their inclusion in these spaces can take away working hours from student stage technicians who use the money they make at the Austin Arts Center to pay tuition or buy food. A tech course could also give students enough knowledge to be more able stage managers or technicians in later performances, possibly even creating a pipeline for more students to be involved in arenas such as sound or lighting design.
As someone who heavily considered double majoring in Theater and Dance until reviewing the unfair major requirements, I have found my people and my place in more informal club spaces. I have found something incredible at Trinity; a deep, intense love for performance, art and other artists. The Theater and Dance department helped me do that. My wish for future students like me is that they have more of an opportunity to follow that love down a path that allows them to learn in more academic spaces while still having an opportunity to teach others and have fun in club spaces.
Or maybe it’s the $358,640 sticker price! Trinity’s just been spending (JBS) too much and keeps raising prices.