Newsflash Theatre to bring current events to stage
February 18, 2015
A&E
Spectrum Theatre Company, a student-run theater company, is launching a new show in the coming weeks in reaction to news events that matter to students, such as the death of Michael Brown last summer.
The show, Newsflash Theatre, strives to bring world issues to life by creating artistic pieces in reaction to current events and social issues.
Recently, Spectrum invited Northwestern students to submit applications for pieces for the show. Selected students are given two to three weeks to create their piece and their only guideline is that the central theme must be a relevant issue in society. Pieces can range from photo showings, staged readings, writing workshops and more.
Emm Fulk, one of Spectrum’s special events directors, said the goal is to get students talking about social and political issues happening around the world.
“Newsflash Theatre is designed to be a really (reactive) event series responding to actual news events,” Fulk said. “We want to open up to other groups on campus and people who might not be interested in the traditional aspect of theater.”
Fulk said two people are responsible for running Newsflash, which has only received one application thus far. She attributed the lack of applications to the show’s newness.
Fulk said Newsflash’s organizers hope to produce something in the next few weeks about race in the United States – specifically surrounding the situation in Ferguson, Missouri, after the death of Michael Brown.
Although the theater group is tackling controversial issues, its goal is simply to spark conversations and inspire open dialogues, Fulk said.
“We don’t have an agenda, and we don’t want to tell people what to think,” Fulk said. “Instead, we want to bring up an issue in the news and encourage people to think about its impact on themselves and the rest of the world.”
In general, Fulk hopes that Newsflash Theatre will push more students to become engaged with current events.
“We want to find students that have something to say,” she said. “We hope to get current events and turn it into something people see and learn from.”
