Why CCNY’s Theater Department Needs to Take Their Students More Seriously

By Quinn Kinsella

“All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.”

-William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII  

The City College of New York’s (CCNY) theater department has a long and illustrious history of dedicated and driven artists. Since the college’s inception in 1847, hundreds of young actors and directors have taken the stage to transport an audience out of their seats and into a world of song, dance, drama and comedy. The college’s drama department is a place for escape, but also a space for revelation. By watching something that is an artifice, a construction and deconstruction of the time we live in and the times before, we come to better understand ourselves and how we fit into the world around us - or in some cases, how we don’t. Storytelling is the oldest art form, and its longevity has never been doubted. But the protection of artistic freedom and access for young artists is something that has been notoriously lacking in universities throughout the country. The integrity of the student body at CCNY is indisputable, as shown by its protests in the Free Palestine movement and the encampments last May. The student population will always stand up for what they believe in, and the young artists that make up the dramatic arts community at City College are one of the most spirited and involved here at the college. 

The theater department’s most recent production, the Alex Durang comedy Beyond Therapy, was directed by theater-major and City College senior Alex Flythe. The student-led productions, such as this one, are seemingly deemed as “less worthy” than the faculty-led productions. For example, Shakespeare, Clearly: Romeo and Juliet, directed by Bridget Kelso Anthony was put on at Aaron Davis Hall this past December with a cast and crew of over 30 people. On the other side of the spectrum, the student-led plays are given a fraction of the budget and seemingly zero publicity. In the run-up to the first performance of Beyond Therapy, the CCNY Theater Department Instagram page hadn’t posted the cast list, which has been customary with all their other productions. They also failed to properly advertise the performance. Past plays have received a lot of social media attention because of the department’s Instagram presence, but for Flyth’s production, the outreach and publicity relied almost entirely on the student-led Instagram page for the play. And this page was mostly made up of the cast, crew and their friends, defeating the purpose of reaching a larger part of the City College community.

This is not a new development–multiple CCNY departments have a history of treating their students in a condescending manner–in particular, the departments that have less funding. We do not see Colin Powell School’s students up in arms about their lack of resources, because they have an abundance of them. Just last semester, the Colin Powell school was gifted $3.5 million from the Friedman family. The department of the Humanities and the Arts at the college is home to many of the less-funded programs, but also home to the most vivacious of the college’s student population. That is not to say that the departments themselves are lacking—quite the opposite in fact. This institution seems to have a wealth of professors in these departments. The Black studies department and the film department come to mind as having leading voices in their fields. The theater department is no different. It boasts some of the best instructors in the city when it comes to the education of dramatic arts, including none other than Ally Sheedy, best known for her roles in John Hughes’ films of the 1980s and member of the “Brat Pack.” 

The theater department needs to start treating their students with more respect. I have spoken to multiple students in the department that wish to remain anonymous and all of them seem to agree on how best to improve the student-led productions: No more condescension and the same amount of resources the larger productions are given. They need more time and to be held in a higher esteem. The students are the ones that keep the department running. It seems the college needs a reminder of who their breadwinners are. Although they might not bring in the money, it is the arts departments that bring the heart to campus. City College boasts a large and illustrious history of the dramatic arts, but to uphold that legacy the theater department needs to respect their students and lend them the artistic freedom they are deserving of.