I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghost.

Jayme Mellema is University Theatre's Scenic Designer. What you are about to read is his encounter with the unexplained...

Normally I’m not a sage burning, séance attending, night vision goggle-wearing believer in the paranormal, but after recently experiencing something here at Thompson Hall I can’t explain, I’m thinking about grabbing my goggles.

Prior to the renovation of Thomspon Hall, I’ve heard there have been a number of questionable occurances explained away as being the Thompson theatres “ghost”. Folks have gone so far as to claim it’s Frank Thompson himself….even thought he died overseas. When I’d heard these tales I simply nodded my head and went on with my life. Not that I’m not a believer in such things, but EVERY theatre supposedly has a ghost and in all my time in lots of theaters I have yet to encounter anything that made me believe these stories. Until recently. Lots of these theatre ghost stories start with “I was here, alone, late one night when…” and those are often easiest to explain away. Most people are not familiar with all the strange sounds a building can make, and when you’re in a theatre alone at night, I’ll admit, it can be kinda spooky. But my story takes place in the middle of the afternoon.

I was in the Studio Theatre painting scenery for “Into the Woods”. It was pretty quiet for a change. Often in the afternoon, there’s lots of loud banging or saws coming from the Scene Shop next door. But not that day. In fact very few people were around at all. The only person I recall being around was Dave Jensen. Paul Pharris was not around either, presumably at Stewart Theatre. I remember Dave walking past the large loading door into the Studio, headed toward the lobby several minutes prior to “The Incident”. Then all was quiet. And the air was calm. Often when I’m painting in the Studio I’ll have large fans running to help speed things along. But at this particular moment, however, the fans were off and as I said, all was quiet. I stood in the center of the Studio and had stopped painting to look at what I was working on. Good enough? I wondered. Hmmm. It never is. And then, moving from the seats toward the loading door, an extremely strong gust of air, brushed by my left side.

I say “brushed” past, because it sincerely felt like someone had rushed past me toward the door. The only part of my body that felt the burst of air was my left arm and torso. Nothing else. And it was very strong. I recall hair blowing about. It lasted only a second, and then, as before, all was calm again. My immediate thought was that perhaps Dave had opened or closed the Titmus Theatre loading door. Air current is very strong through those doors, and maybe it pulled air out of the Studio from the main entrance. I glanced over at the front doors to the Studio, but they were closed. No cross-breeze then. I looked into the loading area. No Dave and the loading doors were closed. Later, I asked Dave if he had gone into the Titmus after walking past. His answer was no.

Since then I have heard that in the past there had been another incident in the building very similar to mine. And others have said they’ve heard voices, had doors open or close, and seen things. But as I said before, I generally don’t jump to the conclusion “A ghost ran past me”! And yet it was definitely a strange experience that I can’t explain. And being an avid fan of the Syfy (to me it’ll always be SciFi) channel’s “Ghost Hunters” I believe in evidence to back up a claim. Jason and Grant would say that I need to look at alternative explanations before declaring, “I was touched by a ghost”. To that end, I DID attempt to recreate the circumstances of “the incident”, but I was unable to replicate what I experienced. And as of today, I haven’t been able to come up with any other explanation.

So, after all of that, am I now going to say that I think that Thompson Hall is haunted? No. There simply isn’t enough evidence of that for my taste. Have there been unexplained experiences in the building that might lead one to believe that there’s something strange in the neighborhood? YES. Absolutely. So maybe someday we’ll have more concrete evidence to backup those experiences, but until Jason and Grant can come with their ghost hunting team to tell us for sure…we’ll just have to settle for telling stories. Which, thankfully, is what we do best here at Thompson Hall.

Have you had a strange experience in Thompson Hall? Tell us YOUR story!

Christian O'Neal is a Freshman in Mechanical Engineering and also a regular on the University Theatre stage. Christian's first performance was the Male Shadow in "Amadeus." Following this performance, he took on the nerd-turned-suave Page, "Melvin," in "It's A Wonderful Life: The Live Radio Play." Christian now speaks of his lead role in Macbeth and the cast's work leading up to the performance.experience.



As I’m writing this, I’m finding it difficult to sum up all that we are accomplishing in the upcoming University Theatre production of “Macbeth.” For many of us involved, this is our first opportunity to perform a Shakespeare play, and for others this is their first play ever, so we certainly have our work cut out for us! “Macbeth” is the most intense production I’ve ever experienced, with physically and mentally demanding goals for everyone involved. All our rehearsals begin with physical stretches and warm-ups, most of which are unique to the worlds of theatre and martial arts. We also begin each evening with “fight-calls” to rehearse all five battle scenes. But the stage combats are not just physically involved, for safety is always a high priority in theatre. While we rehearse slicing and smacking each other, we are also calculating speed, distance, and position, all the while communicating with our fight partners through eye contact. Many of our special effects for the witches also involve body contortions and indescribable body movements, but pursuing this topic might give too much away from the show. And equally challenging is the acting itself, for Shakespeare commands a complexity of drama unlike any other playwright. The entire cast is working hard in following Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter, painting his language vocally and physically to capture emotion, motivation, and character in an instant. The trick is to deliver our lines in a way the audience can understand the story, and due to the production’s setting, we are also delivering them as modern-day street rats. Many of us are tired and out-of-it by the third or fourth rehearsal in a given week, but I think all of us can agree that we couldn’t imagine ourselves doing anything else.

When I first started out, I wasn’t sure how to approach Macbeth’s character. With my previous theatre experience, I thought myself partial to comedies and character roles. But working with our directors Rachel Klem and Dana Marks changed my outlook completely. They got me excited about exploring Macbeth’s personality, uncovering his motivations underling every line of script. Contrary to what many assume, I didn’t find Macbeth a stock persona of a ruthless monarch, but a man full of sorrow, guilt, and, worst of all, ambition. For me, there is nothing more satisfying than to bring a character to life and allow him to live a life of his own within the hour upon the stage.

Meanwhile, everyone else is discovering his or her stage identity with just as much enthusiasm. The witches are turning into a real scream, the murderers are growing quite shady, and our porter continues to command giggles. Our cast comes from many backgrounds, ranging from our Macduff, who is a Shakespeare fanatic, to our Banquo, who is still learning the English language, let alone Shakespearean English! Everyone from Lady Macbeth, to the Noblemen and Noblewomen, to the servants are truly what will make this production come alive and grab the audience. This has been my favorite cast this season at University Theatre, and I hope the relationship we all have will reflect our performances to come.


Macbeth runs April 14 - 18 & 21 - 25 in Thompson Hall on NC State University's campus.
Call Ticket Central at 919.515.1100 for tickets.

That’s the Theatre, Dahling: One Costume Technician’s Experience at SETC

Emily is a BA in Arts Applications, is greatly involved in the arts on campus, and recently attended the Southeastern Theater Conference. Here is her account:

On March 3, 2010, I made my way along with over four thousand other students, professors, professionals and presenters through winter storm conditions to Lexington, Kentucky for the 61st annual Southeastern Theatre Conference. Being that the only other theatre conference I’d attended had only a few hundred total participants, and that this time, I was alone, I was understandably nervous. That nervousness increased Wednesday evening as I sat down in one of the early workshops, a resume review. Peeking over at the resume of the girl next to me, I saw that not only had she been the costume designer for several small professional shows, but though she had not yet completed her undergraduate degree, she was also already accepted into a prestigious post-graduate program in costume design. I started to feel that I was in over my head—NC State doesn’t even have a theatre major!

That fear was shortly assuaged once we broke into smaller groups for one-on-one resume reviews. True, there were many attendees whose experience levels towered over mine, but there were many others who, like me, came from smaller theatre programs, or who simply did not have the opportunities afforded art school students. The folks I met in that small group review were also the ones I ended up hanging out with at different events throughout the conference.

The next morning, the conference truly began. The third floor was packed with my peers in professional dress, carrying portfolios and prompt books, waiting in a winding line that filled an entire lobby until the doors opened to the Job Contact Service offstage job fair. JCS serves as a way for theatre companies to find technicians, and it was the main reason I was there. The room itself is set up with narrow aisles bordered on both sides by booths for each of the companies and festivals. Many of the companies conduct interviews at their table, but most ask you to sign up for a scheduled interview time. My fellow technicians and I made our way around the room, but after a while, all there is to do is wait for your next interview.

When I left the job fair, I felt like I had walked into an entirely new conference. In the interim between my arrival at the convention center and when I stepped back out, hundreds of actors had filled the space. Many were chatting in small groups, while others were gesticulating their monologues, singing or stretching, preparing for their number to be called to audition. By lunchtime, the small groups were excitedly discussing from which companies they’d received callbacks.

These callbacks, along with many interviews, occurred in the rooms of the adjoining hotels. Exiting the elevator to the fifth floor of the Hyatt, I was greeted by the sight of actors every few rooms down, all waiting for their scheduled callbacks. They were looking for jobs just like I was, and this performance was their interview. The anticipation in the air was palpable. When I left that interview, the girl waiting in front of the adjacent room, a complete stranger, asked, “How’d it go?” I told her that I thought it went pretty well, that I hoped my good energy transferred to her and to break a leg. Maybe it’s because SETC is a theatre conference, or maybe just because we’re all part of a similar experience, but everyone there shared that conviviality, striking up conversations where there would normally be awkward silence—in elevators, waiting in lines, between tables in the food court.

By the time Friday rolled around, I finally got to attend some of the amazing workshops and see the work submitted by students to the design competition. SETC also hosted theatre performance festivals of regional youth theatre; keynote speakers on a variety of topics; a competition of 10-minute plays written, casted and performed over the course of the conference; socials and an ending night gala for networking and celebrating—there was always something to do, and definitely more than one person could fit in his schedule. It was lively, it was fun, it was big, and though some people might find that too intense for a professional conference, well, that’s the theatre.

Wolf Unveiling

Hello Everyone,

As some of you may know, my track record for blogging hasn't been very good. However, I am determined to revamp this effort! I hope to get more student perspectives as well since they are the heart of this program.

The staff at University Theatre have been working hard this season to mount each show and the response has been wonderful! We just closed INTO THE WOODS. If you missed it, you should check out our pictures on Facebook. Now we are in full swing as we get MACBETH onto the stage. I can't wait to see what the production team has in store.

It is GORGEOUS outside today so I decided to steal a moment (it was so hard to pull myself away from creating invoices...) and check out the new wolf sculpture unveiling outside of the free expression tunnel.

Unfortunately, I did not have a camera (my cell phone is worthless when it comes to downloading pictures) but I suggest you check them out in person anyway! I am attaching a sneak peak.





I stand at a staggering 5'1"(and that's being generous) and one of the wolves was definitely bigger than me. They are made of woven bronze and they are complimented well by the background of bricks, if I do say so myself. The artist suggested that the wolves stand for determination, observation and expression.

The Chancellor and artist, Michael Stutz, had wonderful remarks including the need for public art and symbols of creativity on campus. I say let's keep that up!

Did any of you go? More importantly, did you get a free cupcake?

Here's to staying inspired to blog!

Give blog a chance

As I lie awake into the wee hours of the morning (it must be the pent up excitement for the Thompson Hall grand opening, I'm sure) I came to the conclusion that the blog is dead.

I'm sure many others have come to this conclusion already and are now all "aTwitter" instead. I must admit, I get it. I love instant gratification as much as the next Gen Yer, but I feel like I just started to get the hang of blogging and it's already out of style.

I can't keep up! Until we hop on the Twitter train, I'm going to try to keep up with the blog and I hope you hang with me.

I'll keep it short and sweet, but probably still more than 140 characters - sorry!