In the summer I was involved in a UIS student theater group. My friend had written a play in an upper level English class and was eager to see it produced and performed. My friend is a talented writer, but very inexperienced in the theater arts. However, he was determined to be the director of his play because he felt that no other person could bring his vision to life correctly.

The play was based mainly on his true-life experiences with his ex-fiancee. These experience where not all-together happy ones. Since, he was operating independently, but planning to use the UIS Studio Theatre, but retain control of the creative decision making. So he chose to cast most of his friends, myself included, into the play. The remaining roles where filled with friends of friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, ect. No auditions where held what so ever.

On and off-stage role conflict became very common. As an inexperienced director he was very loose with his direction methods. He wanted the cast members to become their characters by total immersion into the psyche of the part. Great actors sometimes have trouble accomplishing this, let alone newcomers. He did not give simple acting directions or provide stability. He did not rigorously enforce rehearsal schedules. He could easily be persuaded to end rehearsal early and go to a bar.

Lack of effective cohesiveness within this troupe also caused the downfall of the play. The director failed to establish clear goals to accomplish the play. Second, there was no true leader. The director never buckled down and grasped the reins of control needed to inspire his cast.

As rehearsals started serious problems became evident. The script was completed but it was inconstant. Roles of his characters changed with no apparent motivation. This attitude was also reflected in the very nature of cast member. Since, so many of them where doing this as a favor and did not really posses the talent or dedication needed we could hardly have practice due to all the missing cast members.

Analysis of this experience illustrates the consequence that can occur when common group structure collapses. Our text specifies structure as a major component to a characteristic of a group. Structure is defined as a pattern of relationships. The pattern of relationship in this case was unstable due to a prob

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Studio Theatre, , cast director, play performed, included play,
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