Visual & Performing Arts

The culminating course for a senior in the Department of Theatre & Dance is their capstone. This project is an opportunity to synthesize all prior classroom and production experiences, and to showcase the skills developed over a college career. For a student majoring in theatre design and technology, that capstone is traditionally a lead role in one of the production areas on a mainstage production.

The production team for Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really. includes two students completing capstone assignments: Elin Voegeli is the show’s Costume Designer and River Podjasek is the Technical Director.  The two students shared their thoughts on their projects, the process, and what comes next.

Tell the folks at home a little about yourself. 

River: I’m River Podjasek, and I am a 4th-year Theatre: Design/Tech student. I am specifically focusing on Technical Direction and Scenic Design, and I am also pursuing a Stage Management minor. I am from Waunakee, WI (a small-ish town near Madison). I have been doing theatre consistently for over 8 years! I grew up doing residential carpentry, so I have a ton of personal experience in construction that translates well to theatre.  

Elin: My name is Elin Voegeli. I am a senior Theatre Technology and Design major and a French minor. I learned to sew when I was around seven years old. I have been involved in theatre for almost 11 years now. 

How is this different from other productions you have worked on? 

River: This show is a lot bigger than other shows I have worked on, both in workload and physical scale. This show has many moving parts, literally. The multitude of units, as well as coordinating how things will interact with each other, is a lot of work! My last Technical Direction assignment was What the Constitution Means to Me, which was a big deal because we took it to last year’s regional Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival as a featured presentation. This show is a bigger scale than Constitution was, but working on Constitution really taught me a lot and I came into this process feeling much more confident! I have also been an Assistant TD on previous shows, but that was a lot less work than being the one running the whole process. 

Elin: This is my first time designing for a main stage play. The scale of everything has to be bigger on a proscenium stage than a black box theatre. (Elin previously designed Fuddy Meers and Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse in the Frederick Theatre, and several pieces for the Art in Motion dance concert last fall.)

Has anything surprised you so far? 

River: I think I honestly was most surprised by how comfortable I felt in my role this time around. When I first got my assignment last year to be the Technical Director for What the Constitution Means to Me, I was terrified! It was a big deal for me, and the fact that we were submitting it to be considered for a featured production at ACTF put a lot of pressure on me. When I got this assignment to work on Dracula as my capstone project, I was extremely excited. I love all things creepy (Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year), and Dracula is right up my alley. 

Elin: It was definitely a surprise that the department was able to get a blood special effects workshop with Jen McClure. I enjoyed every minute of it, and I learned so much from the day we spent with her. I was surprised at how simple some blood effects are to create.  

Is there a class or past experience that best prepared you for this project? 

River: I took a Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) class last semester that really upped my game when it came to making plates for the shop. I felt a lot more confident in my abilities as I worked through drafting the scenery for this show, which helped me work faster as well. When I first started drafting, it was slow-going, and I made a lot of mistakes. I definitely still make some mistakes, but a lot less. My plates are much more refined. I also feel that with every show I work on, I get a little bit better at those soft skills required of theatre professionals. Theatre is an incredibly collaborative art. 

Elin: I have had the privilege of designing other productions at UWL, which has made this project so much more manageable. It's a lot of things to keep track of, so having prior experience is essential in order to keep everything under control.  

What’s next for you? 

River: In the spring, I will be stage managing our kids’ show, My Days with Peter Rabbit (and His Friends). After I graduate, I will be moving to Madison to live with my partner for a year before attending graduate school! I am hoping to get a job working in theatre for that gap year. I have a lot of grad schools in consideration at the moment, but I am definitely trying to get out of the Midwest and branch out. I love Wisconsin, but I want to experience more than just the state I grew up in.  

Elin: I graduate this winter, so this is my last UWL show, but I am planning on applying to graduate school. My dream school would be either Yale or Northwestern. I never considered actually applying to Yale until I met Jen McClure during our blood workshop. It's one of those things that you never think is possible until it's staring you in the face. It just took me a minute to think "well, why not me?”