By Ian Wesselhoff 

A s the semester winds down, students in Georgia College & State University’s directing classes approach their final exams just like any other students – except their final is held in front of a crowd of several hundred people. 

A semester of in-class training, student-led auditions and weekly outside-of-class rehearsals culminates at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3 and 4 in Directing I Scenes, a popular performance event from the Department of Theatre & Dance. 

Students in Directing I class spend much of their semester working on that final project: Directing an 8-10 minute scene with volunteer student actors from any major. Most Directing I students go on to take Directing II in the spring, with slightly longer scenes and less instructor supervision, and both classes put on their own Directing Scenes performance. 

Theatre major Hannah Zdancewicz took both directing classes her junior year. Now a senior, she is taking what she learned to the main stage as assistant director for “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical,” which comes to Russell Auditorium in March. 

“I never really saw myself, initially, going into directing,” Zdancewicz said. “I had always thought I was going to stage manage, and that was going to be my path … And then being in a leadership role and learning more about directing, I realized how much I loved it, and I think I saw Directing [class] as an opportunity to lean 100% into that.” 

Zdancewicz is applying to graduate school to pursue theatre, which she was not certain about before taking the class. She says the freedom she was afforded to make mistakes gave her new confidence as a leader. 

“I tell them that the goal of the class is for them to discover who they are as directors,” said Amy Pinney, who has taught directing at Georgia College since 2007. “I want them to take risks. I want them to be brave. The classroom is a super safe place to fail. We do lots of experimenting, trying something, and if it doesn’t work, who cares?” 

For aspiring directors, these classes are directly applicable to the work they will be doing in the field. 

“Something that makes it unique is that they are engaged in practical application 100% of the time,” Pinney said. “They’re directing on their feet from day one, we’re doing that work, and I’m giving them the skill sets and tools that they are then putting into practice immediately.” 

Senior Chloe Butts took Directing I and Directing II, spent this past summer working at the Children’s Theatre Camp on campus, and, this spring, will direct “Exit, Pursued by a Bear” for the main stage. One senior from the theatre program directs a main stage show per year, and Butts knew as a first-year that she wanted to be there one day. 

“That’s exactly why I chose Georgia College,” Butts said. “I’ve never known a time where I wasn’t doing theatre at Georgia College, which you don’t get at a lot of big schools … I really love that I came in my freshman year and I knew this goal I wanted to work towards, and I was able to work towards that at Georgia College. There have been so many opportunities.” 

Directing Scenes is open to student volunteer actors from any background or discipline. Of the 26 actors who auditioned this semester, nearly two-thirds were non-theatre majors, from computer science to philosophy, and first-years to graduate students. 

“The first audition I did [for Directing Scenes], it had been the first time I had ever auditioned for anything,” said junior English major Asher Balmes, who has returned to act in Directing Scenes for five straight semesters. 

Though the rehearsals happen on the students’ own time, they only take up an hour or two per week, compared to the 15-20 hours typically required for a full-length main stage show. The smaller commitment can be especially appealing for non-theatre majors who still want to act or simply try something new. 

“I think there’s something so special about Directing Scenes … It’s all student-produced and student-created,” Zdancewicz said. “Getting to work with people who care about it, because they’re not doing it for a class, they’re not doing it for a grade or for a résumé – they’re doing it because they just want to act or they want to create art … That’s really, really unique.”

Header Images: Student director Elysia Johnson (flannel shirt) directs practice for a scene featuring student actors Asher Balmes and Ava Bass. Photos by Janelle Tyler.