• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

CAS News

  • Highlights
  • Students
  • Faculty
  • Quick Notes
  • The BC Gallery
  • Contact Us

Q&A With Theater Major Natalie Mecham–Director of “Boom”

March 31, 2015 By casdept2

Natalie Mecham
Photo courtesy of the Beacon

Many students don’t know much about what goes on in Mago Hunt behind the scenes of the plays they attend. The Beacon sat down with Theater major Natalie Mecham to get the inside scoop on her production “Boom”, the directing capstone project and being a theater major at UP.

Can you tell me a little bit about what the thesis is about and what the performance is about?

“Boom” was written by Peter Sinn Nachtreib. He studied biology and theater in college and he talks about the play as his attempt to meet in the middle between those two worlds. He feels like biology and theater are both trying to make sense of the world in an epic and intimate way.

In the show, the three characters – Jo, Jules and Barbara – are consumed by trying to get their footing in this world that keeps spinning and spinning. And that’s terrifying because they know that it’s going to move on unchanged even after they’re gone. During the show, they’re looking for a way to survive after they’re gone.

The situation, at first, seems a little sitcom-y a little silly, but the circumstances and the stakes turn out to be vastly higher than ever anticipated.

What goes into making a thesis? What is your part in this?

For my directing capstone, I had a month in which I was meeting with faculty talking about shows and talking about what was possible for space. The show being held in the Mehling Theater is really exciting and challenging. We were exploring what the space is capable of.

Once I settled on a show, there was a lot of time spent on asking, ‘Why this story? Why now?’ I had a lot of preparatory writing I had to do and some contextual research. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to say.

What was it like working with a production team?

I had a meeting with the designers where I talked about what popped out for me within each character. Jo is visceral and instinctual. Jules is practical and logical. Barbara is big and splashy.

Then, the designers mull this over with their own artistic perspectives. The costume designer looked at the structure and uniformity in Jules and we talked about how it would make sense for him to wear plaid. I talk a lot with the designers about what things feel like and how aspects of the world and characters translate into their design.

It’s tricky because you want to give them a direction but you don’t want to prescribe. I’ve tried consciously to work alongside them and not do their job, because they do their job a lot better than I would.

And working with the actors?

With the actors, casting was really hard. I was low on the totem pole for shows- the two main stage shows are very large casts.

Oh man, I got lucky. I got so lucky, holy cow. The people who I ended up with just got it. I needed people who understood that as extreme and surreal as the circumstances are.

Jo, Jules, and Barbara are very real humans. They’re not a joke. I needed people who could embrace the circumstances, live them, laugh at them and go big with them but at the end of the day, know that it was real. So I got very lucky. I got three smart people.

What’s it like now that you’ve finally reached the end product?

We’ve been rehearsing since the beginning of February, We’ve been getting to know the play, dating the play, courting the play, wining and dining the play. All too soon, we’ve gotten it up on its feet, which is super weird. I’m at this time where it’s my 10th night starting my homework at 11:30 p.m. and I’m so tired my face hurts, but then I go to sleep for four hours, wake up, and the show is going to open tomorrow. It’s bizarre but very exciting.

What’s it like to be a Theater Major at UP? Why did you choose UP?

The theater major here is a bachelor of arts program, which basically lets you get to know the whole world of theater. I think that’s crucial because you’re reliant on so many different jobs and people to make one production happen.

People are going to see “Boom” and come away talking about the three actors, but there are 20 people who have sweat over this show to make it happen. When there are no promises for a job in theater, it helps to get hired for multiple things.

Being a theater major can also be really tiring. I get flack from my friends who are engineering majors about us not having any work, but I spent about 20 to 25 hours a week in rehearsal and meetings for this show and then outside of that I have all my coursework. It’s very time-consuming.

You have to love it and you have to be a little nuts about it to care that much. You don’t see anyone saying, “Yeah my mom wanted me to get a job after graduation, so I’m a theater major.” You see people who are there because they love it and that’s a great group to work with.

Just like your characters who are looking towards the future, what do you want to do with your future?

As the playwright says, the world is an epic and intimate universe with millions and millions of options. To a degree, I’m still figuring out which option is right for me.

I intern at a bilingual theater doing literary management. I teach preschool. I really love teaching and working with people in that way. I’d love to be a director of education at a theater, maybe a children’s theater. I’d love to get younger folks connecting with theater and understanding what it can do for you.

Story from the Beacon.  Written by: Rachel Rippetoe

Filed Under: Performing and Fine Arts, Students Tagged With: Beacon

Primary Sidebar

News By Department

Get to Know Your CAS

10 Ways to Manage Stress & to Take Care of Yourself!

College is a lot of fun, but it can also be extremely stressful at times. Mackenzie (‘22, Mill Creek, WA), is a rising sophomore in CAS at UP, pursuing a degree in Biology with minors in Chemistry … [Read More...] about 10 Ways to Manage Stress & to Take Care of Yourself!

College on a Budget!

So you've moved away from home, and doing the whole "being independent" thing. Perhaps you go to the store by yourself for the first time, and you realize how expensive avocados are, and you wonder … [Read More...] about College on a Budget!

Self-Serve: The Basics

Self-serve is a system accessed through your UP portal that you will utilize often, and grow to love (hopefully, or maybe grow to strongly dislike...we’ll see 😉). But in all seriousness, self-serve is … [Read More...] about Self-Serve: The Basics

The College Essentials: Everything You’ll Find Beneficial here at UP!

Of course, everyone has their own personal items that they're going to bring to college with them because they can't live without them. Mackenzie ('22) has put together her list of things that she … [Read More...] about The College Essentials: Everything You’ll Find Beneficial here at UP!

Recommendations

  • Books
  • Music
  • Film

Archives

Study Abroad Reflection: Sarah '19

Study Abroad Reflection: Sarah ’19

2 years ago
Sarah Ponce is a rising senior majoring in Biology and Spanish with a chemistry minor. Her career go…
Continue Reading
Study Abroad Reflection: Sarah ’19
Study Abroad Experience: Gaby 21'

Study Abroad Experience: Gaby 21′

2 years ago
Gaby (21’) is a rising junior studying Political Science and German Studies and minoring in Gender a…
Continue Reading
Study Abroad Experience: Gaby 21′
Congratulations to CAS in #PilotsGive!

Congratulations to CAS in #PilotsGive!

3 years ago
  Congratulations to the College of Arts and Sciences, which placed second in total donors…
Continue Reading
Congratulations to CAS in #PilotsGive!
Kunal Nayyar ‘03 Challenge Gift for Performing Arts

Kunal Nayyar ‘03 Challenge Gift for Performing Art…

3 years ago
Kunal Nayyar ’03, star from the Big Bang Theory, has pledged to give $200,000 to support the Perfo…
Continue Reading
Kunal Nayyar ‘03 Challenge Gift for Performing Art…
Six Students Awarded Fulbright Grants

Six Students Awarded Fulbright Gran…

5 years ago
Six University of Portland students have been awarded prestigious Fulbright grants to work and study abroad. Four of the Fulbrights are for English teaching positions in Germany, one is for an English…
Continue Reading
New Duties For Fr. Art Wheeler

New Duties For Fr. Art Wheeler

6 years ago
Rev. Art Wheeler, C.S.C., has indicated to the provost that he would like to return to the history…
Continue Reading
New Duties For Fr. Art Wheeler
UP Announces O'Dea International Scholarship

UP Announces O’Dea International Scholarship

7 years ago
The University of Portland has established the O’Dea International Scholarship, endowed by  G. Kelly…
Continue Reading
UP Announces O’Dea International Scholarship
Student Wins Cultural Exchange Scholarship

Student Wins Cultural Exchange Scholarship

7 years ago
Environmental studies and German studies double major Sarah Letendre (pictured) has been awarded a C…
Continue Reading
Student Wins Cultural Exchange Scholarship
Remembering the Salzburg experience: former residence director of UP’s Salzburg program visited UP for the first time this week

Remembering the Salzburg experience…

7 years ago
By Kathryn Walters | From The Beacon Ask senior Cerice Keller about one of her favorite memories of studying abroad in Salzburg, Austria, and instead of waxing lyrical about the delicious strudel,…
Continue Reading
Tops in Fulbrights Again!

Tops in Fulbrights Again!

8 years ago
From UPBEAT University of Portland has been named the top producer of Fulbright scholars in the nat…
Continue Reading
Tops in Fulbrights Again!
Overlays
PreviousNextPreviousNext

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2021 · University of Portland