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By Madison Mathews
Johnson City Press
MILLIGAN COLLEGE — Normally, a script for a play, TV show or film isn’t written overnight.
But an impassioned group of nine high-schoolers from across the country may have found just what it takes to beat writer’s block — a combined love of performing on stage.
On Monday, the nine students — eight girls and one boy — enrolled in the theater concentration of Milligan College’s Fine Arts Summer Academy began to throw ideas around for a play they would perform at the end of week.
By the end of the first day, each student began to see how their character would fit into the zany story they had created.
“We came up with a plot and now we’re coming up with characters and throughout the week, we’re going to get costumes, sets and put everything together so it’s all written by us — completely original,” Colorado Springs, Colo., native Jeanette Hartsough said.
This year’s troupe is crafting a short play set in the world of a reality TV show like “The Bachelor.” The story takes place during the 30 minutes leading up to the introduction of the female contestants to the titular bachelor. One by one, the contestants realize through talking with one another that they don’t need to go on national television to find love.
“By the end, the bachelor shows up and everyone is gone,” Hartsough said.
Watching the creative process at work in the students is a treat for instructors Richard Major and Dr. Dennis Elkins, both of whom also teach theater at Milligan.
“The beauty of it is they have complete ownership of the material and it’s been great fun watching them come up with ideas and to just feed off each other in really fun ways,” Major said.
Theater is just one of the areas of study offered during the college’s Fine Arts Academy. In its second year, the academy has 43 students from 13 different states enrolled, taking classes in music, theater, digital photography and multimedia studies.
The academy was designed to help high school students cultivate their talents on the campus of a liberal arts college while also earning dual-enrollment college credit. It coincides with the college’s Summer Arts Camp.
Hartsough had never visited Tennessee before joining the academy this week. She wanted to find a summer fine arts program that operated in a Christian atmosphere and decided Milligan was the perfect fit.
Getting to spend part of her summer with other like-minded theater enthusiasts was a big part of wanting to be in this year’s academy.
“I found over the years that you can learn something new from every person you come in contact with, cause every director is different, every teacher is different, and so I just really wanted the experience, especially because I’m a musical theater major mostly and, so, coming and doing straight theater is something that I really enjoy,” she said.
Meghan Creasy, another theater student from Johnson City, has performed in the past with the Jonesborough Repertory Theater and the Trinity Arts Center. She enrolled in the summer program in order to better her theater chops.
The hands-on instruction from both Major and Elkins have been an added benefit of the program, Creasy said.
“I really enjoy it. It’s really personal and so far the directors and the faculty have been very helpful and they have been very informative, and I think they really help us as far as with our theater training and they’re interested in what we want to do and what we want to get out of it,” she said.
The week culminates with a showcase of the students’ work on Friday at 7 p.m. in Milligan’s Gregory Center for the Liberal Arts. The event is free and open to the public.
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