Q&A with non-acting major Sydney Syverson

Sydney Syverson as The With in "Into the Woods"
photo by Jamie Kluth

Fun fact about UP Theater: You don't have to be a major to audition for the plays!

Here's a Q&A with senior Sydney Syverson, a social work major, who acts in UP Theater productions.

Q: What made you audition for UP Theater?
Sydney Syverson: I've been doing community theatre since I was 7. My dad has always encouraged me to be involved in theatre and he's my biggest fan. I attended a performing arts high school in Las Vegas where I majored in theatre. This was not an exactly favorable experience for me so I kind of gave up on theatre once I graduated. After returning from Salzburg my junior year I realized how much I missed being on stage. I auditioned for the shows Spring semester of my junior year and was cast as Little Sally in "Urinetown." And it's been awesome ever since! I finally realized that this is how theatre is supposed to be - fun and with a theatre family who supports you whole heartedly.

Q: How has it been for you to act with UP Theater?
SS: It has been such an amazing experience. I was so tired of the politics of theatre from High School and all that nonsense that I wasn't sure I was ever going to enjoy it again. I was so wrong. I have made the closest friends in the theatre department - I have truly been blessed to be so welcomed into their family! I love them so much!

Q: What made you get into acting in the first place?
SS: My incredible father, Michael Syverson. He is my biggest fan and advocate. He has always encouraged me to further my interest in and pursue theatre. I really appreciate having such encouragement from my parents. They fly ip from Vegas to see every show I'm in. It's wonderful.

Q: What advice would you give to a non-major who would like to act?
SS: Do it! Just because you're not a major doesn't mean you won't be cast at all. Another piece of advice is to be outgoing! The theatre kids are really nice people, but they have been together since freshman year so you do have to kind of weasel your way into the group. But if you put forth the effort, they will love you!

Q: What shows and roles have you had at UP Theater?
SS: Little Sally in "Urinetown," Mrs. Gibbs in "Our Town," and now The Witch in "Into the Woods."

See Syverson in "Into the Woods" this week! 
Performances are tonight through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Meet Devin Olson: UP Theater alum

Meet Devin Olson: apprentice at Actors Theatre of Louisville (ATL), 2010 UP alum, and dear friend of the UP Theater Department. Since graduating in 2010, Olson has been busy acting, auditioning, and learning about theater in Louisville, Kentucky. Olson, who plans to move to New York City after the program, talks about ATL, acting, and his wonderful experiences at UP. Olson was seen in many shows at UP including memorable performances such as Lenny Ganz in "Rumors" and Claudio in "Much Ado About Nothing."

photo by Alden Ford

Q: Talk to us about Actors Theatre of Louisville. What is the program and what do you do?
Devin Olson: Its official title is the "Actors Theatre of Louisville Apprentice/Intern Company" where 22 young actors are selected to come to Louisville for nine months and be immersed in professional theatre. Over 2,500 people auditioned for the program last year alone. We live, breath, and sleep theatre. We get full access to Actors Theatre of Louisville to learn the business side of professional theatre such as what goes into hiring a cast, working with playwrights and new works, building sets, managing a company budget, networking, and most importantly how to survive in the "real world" as an actor.

Q: How has your experience been thus far?
DO: I will be the first to say that I have been truly blessed and lucky this year. From now only getting selected from the program, but finding success once I've been here. I have gotten to work on three ATL main season shows as well as the apprentice season shows.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish in your acting career?
DO: To eventually have an acting career! Being a working actor is competitive and difficult, but what career isn't these days? I would want to accomplish a resume of shows where I truly believe in the work, and didn't just do it in order to play the rent. I want to build my own network of friends and colleagues so that I can work on projects that I want to work on. I also want to gain respect as both an actor and a person.

Q: What memories do you have of UP Theater?
DO: Family...the department is so small and everyone knows everyones business. Mago Hunt Theater was my second home for four years. I spent an ungodly amount of time in that building working so hard for my dreams. I was very blessed at UP, getting to work just as hard on stage as off. I was treated very well there, and will never have anything but respect for the work the theater department produced and the actor they have helped shape me into.

photo by Joe Geinert

Q: How has UP Theater prepared you for your acting future?
DO: Good training, plain and simple. They have prepared me in the most basic aspects of theater. They taught me to make bold choices, and to do my homework. If you're auditioning for a play, read it first. When preparing a monologue, read the entire play. You'd be surprised how many people don't do these things! The UP Theater department has taught me to be a good person. They faculty always kept a level head on us and were not afraid to put us in our place.

Q: What advice would you give to the UP Theater seniors?
DO: Dream big. Why not, right? Trust that you know what you're doing. Never stop wanting to learn more about acting, and how you fit inside the acting world. Don't stress too much about finding your "type" because it'll eventually find you. If I can do it, then so can you. (I love you all!)

Q: What should we expect from you in the upcoming year?
DO: The Acting-Apprentice show in the 35th Humana Festival of New American Plays premieres very soon and I couldn't be more excited! My first world-premiere full-length play! After the program, I am heading to New York City to start auditioning, use the contacts I've made while at ATL, and just experience this business to the fullest! I am not expecting to find success right away, but where else would a 22 year old actor want to be?

Meet Conor Eifler: UP's student playwright

Meet Conor Eifler: student playwright, ukulele master, and senior actor at the University of Portland. Eifler, who is currently starring in UP's production of "Two Gentleman of Verona," is an avid playwright whose plays have performed by UP students and professional actors. His latest play, "It Happened at Mickey's" was performed last week at the ACTF competition.

photo by Gary Norman

Q: Why did you get into playwriting?
Conor Eifler: I have loved both the theatre and writing from a very young age, so when I got to high school and took a really good visiting playwriting workship from a local actor and playwright, who became mentor of mine, it was just about perfect. And I love how much you get to craft stories from the group up unlike any other role in the theatre.

Q: How would you describe your writing process?
CE: Exhilarating when it works and frustrating when it doesn't.

Q: Where do you get your inspiration for writing?
CE: Different inspiration every time. Sometimes an idea of a theme, sometimes a character or situation that I want to write about, sometimes just a really good line of dialogue from real life.

Q: Describe the arcs of the characters you develop.
CE: They still feel pretty forced. I'm working on that.

Q: Talk to us about "It Happened at Mickey's." What was your thought process when writing? 
CE: I wanted to write a throwback to a campy sci-fi, an homage to the "Twilight Zone." I also wanted to practice writing scenes with more than 3 people in them. Those were the two main jumping off points. I came up with a situation and a cast of characters I thought would be interesting to see together, outlines most of it because it was the first piece of length I had attempted (I have mixed feelings about outlines), and camped out to finish it. There was also a lot on my mind at the time I wrote it, the first draft in my sophomore year, a whole lot really and I was trying to cram it all in there, which meant it got pretty lost and confused. One of the challenges now is to go back and sift through all my ideas and intentions, carve it out and simplify, even when that means cutting chunks I really enjoyed if they are no longer imperative to the story I want to tell.

photo by Kai Hayashi Photography

Q: What plays/playwrights do you admire? Why do you admire them?
CE: Many, there are some I enjoy more as a writer or more as an actor and some just 'cause. Tom Stoppard is a master wordsmith, plain and simple. Harold Pinter is so damn complex and subtle. Peter Sinn Nachtrieb is so absolutely hilarious and full of heart, plus he weaved in science in the coolest ways. Tracy Letts, Lee Blessing also make the list right now.

Q: What other plays have you written?
CE: A One-Act about Activism that was done at Focus The Nation a couple years ago, an adaptation of "Alice in Wonderland" this past year for Nomadic Theatre, and a bunch of ten minute plays and sketches about people falling in love at a bus stop, kids reading Playboy and Shakespeare making dick jokes. I am currently working on another full length about a father and a son, featuring faux-science, time travel, aged rock 'n' roll musicians, an Antarctic explorer and it all takes place on a train. We will see how it goes.

Q: What do you hope to do in the future?
CE: Write and act.

Q: How do you get through the ever-so-frustrating writer's block?
CE: Beat myself up over it, read books, watch plays, and movies, listen to music, get working on something else and either inspiration will return or I will drop the project.

Q: What advice would you give to an aspiring playwright?
CE: I feel like I'm still one of those, so to my fellow comrades, let's keep writing, keep plugging away, remember to have fun with it, make our own opportunities and sit back and enjoy the show when the curtain comes up on our pages.