Mary\u27s Wedding

As the market for actor training programs becomes more competitive, university theatre departments are attempting to generate the most production opportunities possible to attract the highest quality students. Crucial to this agenda‟s success is remaining cost effective while finding new conduits of artistic growth and production experience to enrich the students‟ development. Coastal Carolina University‟s Department of Theatre forged an answer to this departmental balancing act. With almost all budget and faculty resources pledged to the full mainstage season, smaller, student produced work had begun to supplement the production offerings. These projects can provide a much-needed venue for actively engaging more students and expand the Theatre Department‟s visibility through the development of a new audience. This audience appreciates the more intimate, intense plays that are sometimes avoided due to the mainstage demands of larger cast size and wider marketability. Coastal Carolina University‟s Department of Theatre, with 5 mainstage productions and 2 possible second-stage slots per season, bridged the gap between student initiative and mainstage training with an Honors Thesis production of Mary’s Wedding in March, 2009