The Pitt State theater department held auditions Aug. 27 – 28 for their production of “The Little Prince” in Grubbs Hall. The play will open Oct. 23 – 26, with free admission for Pitt State students with I.D. Students of all grades and skill levels were able to audition and try their hand for a part, allowing not only theater majors, but anyone interested, to come and try.
At the center of the auditions was Director of Theater, Dr. Megan Westhoff, who watched all of the students’ auditions and directed them through script readings.
“We do what’s called an audition packet,” Westhoff said. “It’s something that comprises a little bit about the show, about the audition process. It has some cuttings that will be read, so then it doesn’t have to be memorized, but it’s also not cold readings.” Continuing her thoughts, Westhoff said, “We do some improv with that and really make people feel comfortable… Showing their abilities, being silly and trying things is really important because that shows their flexibility to be good collaborators, to have a good time, and also to try new things.”
Westhoff went on to speak about how they do their best to set up students for success with not only theater, but socially as well. When auditioning, students were grouped together for readings and switched back and forth between characters. They were given the freedom to move and act out their parts without restriction.
“I love theater,” senior theater major, Easton King, said. “I’ve been doing it ever since I started here. It’s also my last semester, so I was like, I gotta do the play.”
Every year, new students come to the theater department, and so many passionate students return just like Easton. Before he was given the script for “The Little Prince,” King had never heard of it at all. Simply the love for theater continues to bring students back.
After his audition, King said, “I feel like it’s two characters that wouldn’t seem to have this deep friendship come together. It’s really heartwarming, it’s one of your classic stories. Mostly, there’s the children’s book aspect of it. So, there’s hardcore lessons that are ingrained in the story that I think will be fun to act out.”
“The Little Prince” play was based off of a book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, named “Le Petit Prince.” It deals with themes of loneliness, greed, fear, and the struggle between childhood and adulthood. We are introduced to an aviator who crash-landed in the Sahara Desert. This story is based on Exupéry himself, who was an aviator. Many of the themes of loneliness come from the author’s own experiences. In the story, the aviator becomes friends with the little prince, and it helps him to realize that he is not alone, with the main idea being that love and friendship are essential things to move forward in life.
Westhoff explained that one of the reasons she chose “The Little Prince” was because of its relation to the world. While things happening on social media, politics, and pop culture go on, Westhoff wants to remind the students that things will be okay, just like the little prince to the aviator.
“It was totally intended for adults,” Westhoff said. “To be able to see that we take ourselves too seriously and we don’t have fun, we have no imagination, and how to be able to, you can get that on different levels of age, which I think is what’s beautiful about any story”