A cast of OCU theater majors is offering a glimpse into the lives of college actors with the mockumentary-style webseries Thespians!
The webseries, created by Lucas Haupert, acting sophomore, is an independent project unaffiliated with OCU. It is about a group of freshmen working together in their college theater program.
“Basically, the series is if you were to take The Office and put it in the perspective of theater people,” Haupert said.
The idea for Thespians! came while Haupert completed a film assignment for a class at his community college. He decided to turn the project into 18 short episodes after transferring to OCU this year.
Haupert released the second episode on Oct. 18 on Facebook and YouTube.
Students submitted three to five minute audition videos to Haupert at the beginning of the year. The short clips highlighted each actor’s personality and individual acting style.
“I wanted it to be very natural, so that’s why I cast it the way I did,” Haupert said.
Haupert often allows the actors to improvise and suggest new ideas.
“Everyone’s really good at the improv and the ad libs,” said Elizabeth Malone, acting sophomore and camera operator for the series.
“It’s always surprising to hear what they come up with, because they’re all such brilliant actors.”
Shelby Brown, acting senior, enjoys creating her character for the series.
“It’s really cool to get to improvise and bring myself to the character,” Brown said. “It’s fun to play around with that and not have a strict script to follow.”
In an upcoming episode, romantic tensions will escalate with a spin-the-bottle game. Haupert also plans to include a musical episode in the first season.
To watch the first two episodes, visit the Thespians! The Webseries channel page on YouTube.
Students interested in working on the project as an actor, writer or technician can email Haupert at ljhaubert@my.okcu.edu.
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