This Is What Harvard’s Drama Concentration Could Look Like
Harvard senior Mark Mauriello’s thesis may inspire students for years to come.
At long last, Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences has approved the proposed theater, dance, and media concentration after months of deliberation. Harvard students can declare the new major this fall, but senior Mark Mauriello, 22, already had a jump start. He will present his production of “OSCAR at the Crown and the love that dare not speak its name’’ at the Oberon theater in Cambridge for a three-night run on April 15. The 90-minute production, an ode to Oscar Wilde, has been cast, produced, written, and directed by Mauriello, who will also star in the titular role.
“My hope is that a project like this could serve as a model for a senior project for future students that opt to take that route,’’ Mauriello said in a phone interview.
His route ran through Harvard’s Department of Special Concentrations, which allowed him to develop a unique major in theater and performance arts before it was offered by the school. Mauriello’s project was developed in tandem with the department and may shape the criteria and experiential expectations of the new concentration as it goes forward.
“When I proposed the project to the department, I said, ‘This is what I’d like to undertake in order to personally work through and present what I’ve learned over the past few years,’’’ explained Mauriello. “I’ve been working with my advisor and department along the way. It’s been very much been a discovery and building experience with all the collaborators on the show.’’
Harvard’s director of dance Jill Johnson, who will be an active faculty member for the new concentration, has served as Mauriello’s advisor since the conception of “OSCAR,’’ and commends his efforts as they lay the path for future students who pursue the theater arts.
“He’s been a bit of a lone wolf in the process,’’ Johnson said. “For him to think of future students, it was about creating sense of community and making a contribution that’s greater than just his own.’’
Johnson and other faculty members will assess Mauriello after the production — on both the live show and steps taken toward production — likening the grading process to any student’s final thesis.
“He’s been experiencing the idea of authorship and making and processes involved in making work, very akin to those in creative writing and applied sciences, or other fields of generating ideas with architecture and visual art,’’ Johnson said. “The creation of a work is in itself the same kind of learning as academic learning.’’
Mauriello preferred to remain vague on the financial backing behind the show, he offered that the show was produced “the same way a lot of other student productions fund … [with] grants through student organizations.’’
The 11-member cast is currently in rehearsals for the production. The show itself will follow a similar architecture to the Oberon’s extravagant Shakespeare-cum-disco production, “The Donkey Show,’’ as “OSCAR’’ opens on the dance floor, depicting the peak of Oscar Wilde’s fame. The 90-minute show follows Wilde from the height of his hedonistic lifestyle to his fall from grace in society and eventual loss of control, leading to a solemn solo performance by Mauriello.
“As things begin to go wrong for Oscar, the show begins to go wrong as well. It’s meant take you on a journey that’s a little unexpected,’’ he said. “You should come prepared for a fun night out, but I think people will be a little bit surprised. I want them to leave, thinking ‘That was an experience that compelling to me on an emotional level, too.’’’
But is “Dorian Gray’’ prerequisite reading? Not so much.
“I think if you knew nothing about Oscar Wilde, never even heard of him, you’d still be affected and be able to follow the story,’’ he said. “But if you’re an Oscar buff, not only will you know what’s going on, there are some gems and easter eggs that you might catch. He’s one of the most quotable people of all times. Even when we’re stuck on the script, and we think, ‘What’s something to say here?’ We say, ‘Oh let’s just turn to Oscar, he’s probably already said something genius.’’’
“OSCAR at The Crown and the love that dare not speak its name,’’ at Oberon, Cambridge, April 15-17, $15-35.
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