DramaTech celebrates 60 years of student theater

Too commonly considered only a stronghold of stern engineers and scientists, Tech has also harbored a playful spirit for the dramatic arts as far back as 1913, when a small troupe of students formed the Marionettes, a theater group that dissolved as World War II approached.

In 1947, DramaTech (originally named the Georgia Tech Dramatic Club) was founded on campus and became the oldest continuously operating theater company in Atlanta.

"The original members of the group were students, many of whom had served in World War II, who simply wished to revive a theater tradition at Tech which had been dormant through the war years," said Gregory Abbot, the artistic director of DramaTech and faculty member of the School of Literature, Communication and Culture (LCC) since 1984.

In the days before coeducation, the women's roles in DramaTech's performances were played by students from Agnes Scott College and members of the community.

DramaTech originally performed in scattered locations, including the North Avenue YMCA (presently the Alumni and Faculty House), the Crenshaw Field House and the Community Playhouse, before settling down to its final home in the Dean James E. Dull Theater, a black box theater inside the Robert Ferst Center for the Arts.

"The number of students involved has increased rather dramatically over the years. Some productions, such as West Side Story in fall 2005, literally utilized over 100 students as actors, set builders, costumers, publicity workers, lighting technicians, box office workers, backstage helpers and orchestra musicians," Abbot said.

"With over 100 members, including students, faculty, staff and alumni, DramaTech is an entirely self-supporting theater, with money raised via ticket sales, fundraising projects and funding from SGA," said DramaTech President Aubrie Lee, a fourth-year Management major.

"Currently, we still do four to five major productions a year, but we also do a Murder Mystery Dinner Theater, student-directed one-acts and produce our own Black Box Improv Festival. We have a musical theater performance group called VarietyTech and an improvisation troupe called Let's Try This," Abbot said.

DramaTech also offers classes through the LCC department.

"Our mission is two-fold. We want to offer Tech students the opportunity to participate in and learn about all areas of theater production and management, and we also want to provide high-quality productions to the Tech and Atlanta community," Abbot said.

DramaTech's productions have ranged from ancient Greek plays such as Lysistrata to more modern plays.

"DramaTech has always tried to present a wide variety of styles. We do comedies and dramas, classical plays and musicals. We have commissioned new plays and produced plays written by students," Abbot said.

"A few years ago, we commissioned three local women playwrights to write short plays based on the myth of Frankenstein to create the show Me, Thy Creature, [which was made up of the plays] Promethea Unlaced, The Vector and Dark Heart," Abbot said.

"Promethea Unlaced was about Mary Shelley's mother, a famous feminist. Dark Heart was a farce based on the idea of rejuvenating bodies and bringing the dead back to life. The Vector was a play about biochemical terrorism, and the idea that that was one scientist's Frankenstein monster, something that he created and cannot control. The author, Carla Jennings, expanded it to a full length play, and it's won two major national playwriting awards since then," Abbot said.

To celebrate its 60th anniversary, a sampling of popular performances from DramaTech's past will be revived.

This sampling includes The Valiant, originally performed by DramaTech in 1947 and to be repeated in June 2007; An Enemy of the People, performed in 1965 and scheduled for April 2007; The Lion in Winter, performed in 1974 and Nov. 2006; Act Without Words II, performed in 1981 and scheduled for June 2007; Macbeth, performed in 1995 and scheduled for Nov. 2007; and Rumors, performed in 1998 and schedule for July 2007.

Through the years, DramaTech has also developed a few quirks.

A toaster is included in every main stage production, and has grown to become one of its symbols. Most recently in The Lion in Winter, the toaster was cleverly disguised as a Christmas present, but its previous hiding places have included a decorated Roman archway or simply a hidden location behind the set.

The meaning of this ritual is shrouded in secrecy, but its origin lies in one of DramaTech's earlier productions, during which the toaster hung from the ceiling as a decoration.

"DramaTech thrives on the energy and creativity of the students of Tech. I have always been amazed at the level of commitment of the students involved, and at the excellence they can achieve," Abbot said.

"We have DramaTech people who audition regularly, but we certainly encourage everybody on campus to audition for our shows," Abbot said.

More information about DramaTech, as well as a schedule of this year's shows, can be found at www.dramatech.org.