One of the main goals for our Theatre Education Community is to help theatre students and professionals from all over connect and identify with each other in order to build resources and support the theatre education field. We shine a spotlight on a different member every other week by conducting a simple interview.
Our next spotlight is Jill Campbell, a Gifted Support Teacher and troupe director at State College Area High School in State College, Pennsylvania, home to Thespian Troupe 5029. Jill serves on the Pennsylvania Thespians State Board and was part of the original group who helped us beta test Community in 2013. With over 25 years as a theatre educator, Jill provides valuable advice and always has just the right solution for her colleagues.
Why do you believe theatre is important?
I have always been a student of the arts. In Theatre, I found the place where all of the arts come together to create great works that challenge the creator and the audience.
What is your greatest challenge?
Convincing others of the importance of theatre education for all students at all levels and making sure it is included along with core curricula.
Tell us about the best day of your career.
In 2005, I took my students to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We took a play I had been wanting to produce for a long time, Moby Dick Rehearsed by Orson Welles. We were just beginning to use the internet at that time, but I had no devices with me on the trip, so we were depending on the folks at home to check online reviews and let us know about them. When my students shared one of the review headlines with me, I was sure they were kidding, “Moby Dick by High School Professionals.” When we were able to use a campus computer and the headline proved to be true, along with several other professional reviews, highly recommending the show, I told my students they (their production) had made not just my day, but my career.
Stage College Area High School Thespians at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
What is the resource you most recommend to others in your profession?
Viola Spolin’s theatre games. When you and your actors hit a wall during rehearsal, you can usually find a game that will not only help everyone over the wall, but will often lead to an acting breakthrough for the students involved.
Do you have any tips for new theatre teachers?
Find local professionals and ask for help and advice. This especially when you are unsure of using dialect, stage combat, have copyright questions, and/or run in to a variety of technical difficulties. If you have a college or university nearby, build a great working relationship. Not only may you be teaching their children someday, but you may need a theatre to perform in and they may come to your rescue.
The Miracle Worker, State College Area High School
What was the first role you ever played?
I have no idea, but my mother said it involved dressing up in lots of scarves as a toddler. I apparently did this very early every morning while I waited for her to get up. The most memorable, or my favorite role was not one in a play or musical, but as a narrator with our symphony orchestra. The piece was Voices from the Gallery, and in it I got to play among many others, Venus Rising, The Mona Lisa, Christina from Christina’s World, The farmer in American Gothic, and even Picasso’s Goat. Lots of voices, dialects, and so much fun. It was probably one of the most challenging pieces I have ever worked on.
What inspired you to become a teacher?
My mother, she was a master teacher. I have degrees in Elementary Education as well as Theatre. When I was in graduate school studying Child Drama, my teaching assistantship was teaching Creative Dramatics to Elementary and Child Development Students. We took our students out to the local elementary schools, did demonstration lessons and then our students created and taught lessons. The teachers I worked with always recognized the fact that I was a ‘teacher’. Then I was cast as Peter Pan and had the opportunity not just to fly on stage, but to be featured on talk shows and visit a lot of local elementary schools. I found the time spent talking to, playing with, and teaching children about my role and the theatre was even more enjoyable and exciting than flying and playing Peter Pan. That was it. Though I still enjoy performing, I love teaching and directing more.
What was the most difficult element of a production you’ve ever had to manage?
There is always that prop that challenges the abilities of the adult technical staff to build or create. While we were able build a ‘safe’ working guillotine for The Scarlett Pimpernel, we found it a real challenge to create a life size ‘head’ in the likeness of our principal male to ‘cut off’ using the guillotine. Making a mold of the face of your principal actor safely is no easy task, let alone getting the foam mix correct and then painting the piece realistically. It worked! The school preview fourth grade audience loved it.
Jill with her student actors from Once Upon a Mattress
What would you consider your biggest failure and what did you learn from it?
Making facial hair. Keep it light. Less is more. You can create the most ridiculous looking pieces by trying too hard.
Everyone has at least one good theatre story. Tell us yours!
With over 25 years in as a high school theatre director, there are so many great stories to choose from. The longest high school theatre space I lived in (over 25) years was recently torn down for good reason. It was old and prone to flooding. While I have many ‘flood’ stories, my favorite occurred during the first technical rehearsal for Curtains. We had barely begun when we heard a torrential downpour begin. As usual, it wasn’t long before water began running under the pit area outside exit door. The pit was on audience level and just 3 feet from the stage apron. We immediately began unplugging and lifting everything from the pit orchestra on to the stage as the pit and front row seating began to flood. High ground was the stage where we sandbagged the loading dock doors and the back of the house. Making the most of the situation, a few of our principal actors broke out the cardboard prop canoes and offered a rousing chorus of “In the Same Boat!” Video and Facebook postings followed. Tech ended really early that night, but we were dried out by the next night and the show went on.
How do you relax after a busy day?
Read a good book. I find it is the only way I can stop thinking about what needs to be done or what I need to do next.
Fiddler on the Roof, State College Area High School
What is your proudest accomplishment?
Bringing triplet boys in to the world healthy, raising them and now seeing them set out on their own careers.
Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of theatre?
Antiques – I had grandparents who were antique dealers and appraisers. They instilled a love of these objects and their history in me. My mother carried on this love and my children are following in our footsteps.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
Edinburgh, Scotland – especially the old city and/or the older neighborhoods. I just love the history and living in a place with so much history would be a dream. Edinburgh especially because of the artistic and cultural history and of course the Edinburgh Festival. I would probably love to live in any old city or town in Scotland, UK.
If you enjoyed Jill’s interview as much as we did, add her as a contact in the Community.
Do you know someone who deserves a moment in the Spotlight? Tell me their name and why at gbutsch@schooltheatre.org. Want to read more Community Spotlights? You can find them here.