Twelve writers sat in a circle on couches or chairs, under dim lighting. They chatted about classes, favorite authors, weird things they wrote or wanted to write. Student Writers Association’s Jan. 27 meeting resembled a coffee shop more than a classroom. “The quiet, comfortable atmosphere is what makes this group so successful,” said Creative Writing major Amaya Hoke. She noted that part of the growing success of the often ramshackle organization was the switch from a boring Benildus classroom to the O’Shaughnessy Performance Space. Senior Brandon Brown has attended every SWA meeting, seeing his role as more of an advisor than a president. “This is about building a foundation,” he said when asked about the group’s goals. Of the 12 in attendance, most were underclassmen, a demographic that is key to establishing the group’s future. The laid-back vibe of the meeting is deliberate. Brown saw that establishing a connection with other writers, who are usually a solitary lot, is just as important as any craft exercise. “You can make friends. You’ll see someone walking in the hallways and say, ‘Hey, I know that person, because I hang out with them for two hours every Tuesday night,” he said. “I feel like it works. [The meetings are] always easy, it never feels like a chore.” Missing the intellectual stimulation, recent graduate Curtis Mueller started attending meetings last November. “We’re really spoiled here,” he said. “Here, people are talking about things they actually want to do. Out in the real world they just want to talk about stupid bullshit.” Though the group is informal, Hoke organizes a writing exercise every meeting meant to remove the writers from their comfort zone. Some are structurally complicated, like a three paragraph flash piece that changes genres each paragraph. Others...

Junior Chris “Buran” Beran takes his Video Jockey (VJ) stage name from the Russian word meaning “a gale force wind from the north.” Appropriate considering the Portland, Oregon transplant is one of the first VJs on campus.

The Firstie: A metal show. I’m an easy-going guy who buries his anger deep down, like any other red-blooded American. So metal’s aggressively angry sound, even in the love songs, just comes across as shrill. My roommate, who listens to metal religiously, has tried to convince me of its technical musicianship, but I often respond with my father’s retort to rap: “It all sounds the same.” This sickens me. The Band: Sleeptaker. Stemming from a jam session at Warehouse 21 between junior SFUAD student and guitarist Alex Monasterio and Santa Fe resident Connor Mejias-Meriani, Monasterio went home, wrote a a few riffs and the band was born. Soon after former SFUAD students Noah Trainor (bass) and Eric Martin (vocals) joined, followed by Michael Rael (guitar), a childhood aquientence Monasterio. Since their first gig in February, Sleeptaker has performed 10 shows. The Aid: 40 oz of Mickey’s Malt Liquor, consumed purely out of fear. The Show: I walked into a dank, dimly lit basement, known as the “Pig Pit,” and immediately regretted my decision. By the time Sleeptaker took the stage, there were approximately 30 people crammed, sweaty, ready to rage. Once the show began though, all my reservations went out the grimey window. It was no longer about the music. It was the energy. “You can play all your parts perfectly,” said Trainor. “But if you’re boring to watch, it’s boring.” The show was not boring, and if I had to give one reason why, it would have to be the mosh pit. Moshing is a predominantly Caucasion form of dancing that involves participants slamming violently into each other. Not to hurt anyone, it’s not about that, but just a pure distillation of anger and release. As soon as the drop (a musical term referring...

What happens at Vegas Night stays at Vegas Night. I’m kidding: Between virgin margaritas and Sprite on the rocks, I don’t think anyone made a fool of themselves.

At 6:59 pm, there were only 10 people, five of which were on stage. Five minutes after the Student Voice Open Forum was supposed to begin, the number jumped to 17. The turnout was average, according to Student Voice President Rachel Shuford, although you’d think the number would be larger, given the amount of bickering, name calling and pointed memes on SFUAD’s Student Life Facebook page. Unlike the staff-run Student Life, Student Voice is a student-run organization, which advocates for the various problems of students on campus. Shuford, a second semester junior, doesn’t let the low turnout mar her Leslie Knope optimism toward the improvement of SFUAD. “We don’t want to encourage people to come and complain at the open forum, we don’t want people to have things to complain about,” she said “But we do want them to have an outlet.” The Forum kicked off with a message from Larry Hinz regarding the recent spat of security breaches in and around King Hall. King recently saw the introduction of a 24-hour guard station, but 24/7 surveilance cameras, as well as patrols around, and within the hall are to follow. In another effort to improve security, Student Life went on a “light walk,” around campus to survey which areas could be better lit. As a result, the school plans to increase lighting on the paths to the Film School, Greer Garson and around the barracks. Still, according to student Hall Director Rochelle Esquerra, you can call an RA or hall director, but ultimately, the onus of safety falls on the student. “There’s no issue too small to call security,” she said. “We really want to empower you as students.” As far as mass complaining on the Student Life page, Student Voice encourages students to take their concerns directly to Mouton Hall,...

In addition to being the director of Photography for “Oasis Motel,” the new drama from Shoot the Stars, junior Amy West has been teaching herself to fire dance. Jackalope Magazine recently sat down with her to talk fire dancing, her filmmaking and performing for yourself. Jackalope Magazine: What brought you to SFUAD? Amy West: I am originally from Petaluma, Calif., in the San Francisco Bay Area.   JM: Oh, that explains the hippy vibe. AW: Yeah, exactly. (laughs) I’m definitely a northern California girl at heart. I went to an art college fair at my high school, and I was interested in getting out of California. I know it’s a little counter intuitive, and I figured there’s probably a shit ton of film students out in California, and Santa Fe looked like it would be a different experience and give me a different perspective.   JM: I’m assuming you were a dancer before you began fire dancing— AW: I was not!   JM: OK, so how did fire dancing start? AW: I have a best friend back home who goes to Reed College in Oregon, which is like a super hippy liberal college, and they have a fire dancing team. We got together over winter break of my sophomore year, after she’d been doing it for a while, and we made a video together. While we were making it, she was like ‘hey you should do this too,’ and I was like ‘Oh my God I want to.’ I had done color guard in middle school and there’s a prop called staff that she bet I could [use]. So we went and got a curtain rod, and I just started playing with it and my friend said ‘you you can do this,’ so I...

This week SFUADcast sits down with Zoe Baillargeon and Bisi Ademulegun, creators of SFUAD’s 10 Minute Theater Festival.

Some Girl(s) opens Oct. 17, so Jackalope sat down with two of its leads, senior Jade Scott Lewis and senior Shenyse Harris, to discuss the show, playing unlikable characters and favorite recreational activities. Jackalope Magazine: Tell us a little bit about Some Girl(s). Jade Scott Lewis: It’s a show done in four scenes. Each scene contains the main protagonist named Guy, who interacts with one of his ex-girlfriends. So there’s only two actors on stage at a time. The show is about a writer who goes off in search of something, searching for some kind of connection. He’s foraging and looking for something interesting in each relationship. Shenyse Harris: What’s really interesting is that each scene is completely different. Each of the four girls reflects a different time that he was living in. It’s a lot of fun. JM: Shenyse, tell us a little about your character. SH: Each girl, Some Girl, shares once scene with Guy. My character’s name is Tyler, she is an art student. Tyler is very into herself, she’s a very strong headed, emotional person who tries logic, but can let her emotion get in the way. Because of that she acts as though those things don’t affect her. JSL: And she’s raunchy, and sexual, and she likes drugs. SH: Thank you, Jade. (laughs) Yeah, she is very raunchy, very sexual. I wouldn’t even say raunchy, she’s very blunt and open about her sexuality, she’s very comfortable in her own skin. She’s out there, if you ask Tyler to do anything, if you’re like ‘hey Tyler, let’s go streaking,’ she’ll be the first one with her clothes off. But, she’s also very guarded. She definitely uses her openness as a defense mechanism to hide the melancholy of who she really is....

  What can I say about The Cave Dwellers? Firstly, the story is nonsense. I hate to start the review off negative, but I just needed to get that out of the way. The central romance of the story between The Duke (Tyler Nunez, senior) and The Girl (Donna Bella Litton, freshmen) is erratic, falling in and out of love over the matter of days, with a narrative conclusion that leaves much to be desired. The absurdity of the courtship makes Gorky the Bear’s (Matt McMillan) appearance seem ordinary. There’s my gripe. But, what ultimately saves the show is the committed performance of each and every cast member. Nunez’ punch-drunk Duke seems to recognize the heightened reality of the show, appropriately mumbling some of his line delivery, while still nailing the dramatic beats. Litton, who has the most underwritten role of the ensemble, acts as the audience surrogate, but gives hints of a sadder complexity beneath her doe-eyed innocence. As freshmen, it’s exciting to think what Litton has in store for audiences with more experience and juicy material. Rounding out the quartet of leads are The King (Colin McIntire, junior) and The Queen (Avery Cartwright) who bring their college veteran experience to their loquaciously eccentric roles. The scene stealers though, intentionally or not, were McMillan’s Gorky the Bear and Father (Hamilton Turner), his Russian bear trainer. The duo show tremendous chemistry, and elicit big laughs from primarily physical comedy. It should be noted too, that this was PAD’s first show “in the round,” on the the stage of the proscenium theater. All the performers adjusted competently, with any unintelligible lines few and far between. For those looking for a thought provoking show, you may have been disappointed. But, for any fan of top notch...

Entering his senior year, Hamilton Turner has a lot on his plate. Between a full class schedule, directing a show and Underwear Society—the student run sketch comedy group—Turner has hit the ground running. Turner recently sat down with the SFUADcast to talk about his upcoming projects. Last week, Underwear Society, which has been active for 13 years going back to the CSF days, held auditions for the new season. Turner is joined by Jacey Ellis, Michael Pepp and Darrell “DLou” Luther, as the elder statesmen of the group. Starting last year, Underwear Society took a unique turn in casting CWR major Ellis and CMP major DLou. Turner hopes to continue that trend of branching out across campus. “There’s an interesting thing to be said about keeping it open to the entire campus,” said Turner. “That opens the door to a lot of things that we can do.” An even fresher element for the new year is Underwear Society inching towards a more improv-based entertainment, rather than what has been traditionally scripted comedy. Turner directed Small Craft Warnings, a one act by Tennessee Williams, last semester after being encouraged by the Performing Arts Department. He returns this semester to direct Hotline by Elaine May, a dramedy surrounding a suicide hotline. “I think that it will play well with some of the other shows in the season,” he said, “because they are all completely different.” Aside from senior Matt McMillan, who stars in the show, Turner is excited that the cast mostly consists of freshmen and transfer students, singling out Madeleine Garcia in particular. “She had a really interesting take on the character, which is what I was drawn to, that’s why I cast her,” he said. “[Her performance] was really simple, really instinctual, I’m really excited...

Reagan Roby is in her second year at SFUAD as a theater tech major. Since transitioning from musical theater, she has been involved with eight shows in only a year and a half. In the Q&A, Roby discusses the new head of PAD, fussy actors and future plans. Jackalope Magazine: What Brought you to SFUAD? Reagan Roby: I was in theater in high school and Kevin Klutz, one of the alums from here, persuaded me to come and visit and I just really liked it.   JM: Did you originally come here as a theater tech major? RR: No. I actually came here as a musical theater major. I went to some classes and was like ‘I’m really bad at acting…(laughs) And then PA’d for a show and kind of fell in love with stage management after that.   JM: What do you think about Laura Fine Hawkes, the new head of the department who has a theater tech background? RR: I think it’s really good. Last year I was really debating staying here. Just because we had a sub chair, nothing was really getting done. Our TD (Technical Director) last year was, ugh. It’s really nice to have Laura, because she is a technical theater person, graduated with that degree. She’s really making a lot of changes and making it suitable, an environment to learn, for tech majors.   JM: What productions are you working on this semester? RR: Currently I am working Some Girls, directed by Gail Springer and I am ASMing (Assistant Stage Managing) for that. In a couple weeks, I am PSMing (Production Stage Managing) Hotline, which is directed by Hamilton Turner.   JM: What are some of your duties as a PSM? RR: When you PSM, it’s basically your...

SFUAD Creative Writing major Nick Martinez debriefs about his semester in New York.

New York is expensive. This is a given fact that everyone knows, regardless if they have ever personally visited the city.