Fret not college students clinging to high school theater days and inexperienced individuals wishing for a creative outlet. The Penny Dreadful Players provide numerous opportunities for people to get involved with theater productions.
A board of directors runs PDP, with Managing Director Lillie Cawthorne, junior in LAS, leading the organization. It is the oldest theater RSO at the University, founded in 1992 by students seeking to provide opportunities for students outside the Department of Theatre.
“Even for theater minors, a lot of Krannert (Center for the Performing Arts) stuff is unavailable to us, so that’s pretty much why the club was made, because a lot of it’s inaccessible,” Cawthorne said. “We try to make sure that theater is for everyone, even people that aren’t theater majors.”
Regardless of their field of study or prior theater experience, any student can contribute to PDP. A wide variety of roles are available to members depending on their desired level of involvement.
“We really try to give students who may not be in the theater program or anything like that an opportunity to express themselves,” said Jack Kramer, junior in LAS and artistic director of PDP. “Whether that’s through writing or acting or directing or tech, we just try to give everyone a chance.”
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
An especially important aspect of PDP is its efforts to showcase student writers.
“There are so many people that aren’t playwriting majors that are excellent playwrights,” Cawthorne said. “There’s a lot of untapped potential, so we kind of try and get those people involved.”
Each semester, PDP puts on three shows — one comedy, one drama and one amalgamation of multiple shorter plays. It typically stages productions in spaces such as the Armory or local churches.
Biannually, PDP works with other theater organizations like The What You Will Shakespeare Company and improv groups like Hive Society. Together, they spearhead collaborative performances of student-written works and donate the profits to charity. This year, PDP will donate to Rape Advocacy, Counseling & Education Services, which supports victims of assault and domestic violence.
Lily Wells is a freshman in the School of Social Work and PDP’s resident dramaturg. Wells emphasized how collaborations help maintain relations between theater and theater-adjacent RSOs.
“It helps strengthen our relationships with other groups because, at the end of the day, we all really want to just support each other in what we’re doing,” Wells said.
PDP’s other shows this semester are “Planting Daisies,” a student-written play exploring concepts of grief and gun violence, and “Alice in Wonderland.”
“‘Alice in Wonderland,’ even though it’s a fun, silly thing, I think is really needed and also really fun to think about ‘what really is reality’ because right now, nothing feels real,” Cawthorne said. “So, it’s just kind of fun to explore a different reality that feels a little bit more whimsical.”
Members of PDP have also found community within the organization, quickly becoming close with fellow cast members and teammates.
Aiden Garber is a sophomore in AHS and the current publicity coordinator of PDP. Garber said he had some theater experience in high school, and some enthusiastic PDP members encouraged him to join.
“I saw Penny Dreadful players on Quad Day, and one of our past board members was screaming and yelling, and that got me really intrigued,” Garber said. “I auditioned … and got a part, and I really fell in love with the group, and it became a very inclusive environment where I felt welcomed, and it felt like home.”
Any students with a love for theater can find creative outlets for their interests. Organizations like PDP offer not only chances for involvement but also a community of performance-loving individuals.
“Penny Dreadful Players brings together all these little pieces of tech and acting and socials and directing to create these wonderful acts,” Wells said. “(We) create communities where people will talk to each other, and people will know each other’s names.”
