This Thursday at 10:30 p.m., Gonzo Theater will be led by junior Alyssa Shenk and senior Clara Bush in the Black Box Theater. Gonzo is a monthly student-run event that showcases uncensored theater inspired by the spontaneous practices of Gonzo journalism. According to Merriam-Webster, Gonzo journalism “treats a subject in a very personal, unusual, and often shocking way.” Gonzo means “outlandishly unconventional, outrageous, or extreme.”
Bush said, “Gonzo is what you make it and it’s meant to be a way to show the vehicle of theater as a way to talk about the issues that are on people’s minds, and also just for fun. It’s also meant to be an exercise in allowing students who don’t normally get involved in theater to get involved, or people who want to write who have the opportunity through Gonzo to see a small piece of their work performed, to see it realized.”
Because it is uncensored, Bush said, “We do like to be sensitive to where people are at, so we give a full disclosure at the beginning of each Gonzo.” Shenk said that after the intro, a typical Gonzo begins with two or three scripts, followed by a candy break, then two or three more scripts, followed by a game break, and then more scripts if they are available. Each script is about five to ten minutes long. Shenk said, “We usually get the scripts by Monday or Tuesday of that week and then we give them out to directors, and then directors pick their actors.” Shenk and Bush pick a theme for each Gonzo night, which script-writers can follow if they want. This week, they chose the theme of Valentine’s Day, since it takes place in February, and the theme of change, because they want students to be able to express their feelings about EMU’s budget cuts. Bush said, “My favorite parts of Gonzo are the people and getting to see students’ perspectives, and also just getting people involved and hearing them laugh.”
Bush stated that Gonzo is different from most theater at EMU because it does not involve costumes, sets, or memorization of lines. This makes it much more informal and less intimidating. Bush said that she would love to get more non-theater students involved and to incorporate more music and improv into Gonzo.
Shenk hopes that many students participate on Thursday. She said, “It’s a great way to just kind of leave your worries of school behind, and that’s what theater is in general for me…just having fun with friends and watching and participating.”
Thursday’s Gonzo is exciting for both Bush and Shenk because this is Shenk’s first involvement in the leadership with Gonzo, and it is the start of Bush’s last semester in Gonzo leadership. Bush has been involved in Gonzo since she was a first-year — except for last semester, when Gonzo took a break — and has been leading Gonzo since she was a junior. Now, Bush is in the process of passing it off to Shenk. Since she is taking over, Shenk has been involved with most of the organization of Gonzo Theater this semester. Shenk said, “I’m really excited to keep up the tradition and hope I can do right by it.”
