Elios Chafetz discusses Evergreen State College’s ‘Theater Program’ and inspires a call to action.

Last week, I had the opportunity to interview local actor, director, producer, writer, videographer and editor Elios Chafetz who shared insights on the Evergreen State College’s performing arts offerings, especially the Theater Club, that demand our attention.

About to graduate from the Evergreen State College with a degree in Theater and Film, Chafetz has remained involved with campus opportunities like Theater Club, choir, Giant Clam Improv Group, and student films. You might recognize Chafetz most recently from Olympia Family Theater’s production of “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus,” which I reviewed here.

Our conversation took a deep and significant turn when Chafetz began discussing the limitations and consequences of Evergreen State College’s overall structure and practices. Many of their current policies and decisions limit how successfully student clubs like the Theater Club can function, learn, and thrive.

Before we go there, let me introduce you to my new friend Elios Chafetz.

Getting to know Chafetz

Growing up in Auburn, Chafetz was regularly involved in theater productions from Elementary school to high school, participating in both school productions and those of “Heavier Than Air Family Theater” which closed down in 2018.

Initially, Chafetz attended the Evergreen State College with the interest in animation. Much like many recent college students, Chafetz paid the price of the Covid-19 pandemic with online classes that had significantly reduced resources compared to how the classes were originally designed.

The syllabi of the animation classes also included opportunities to learn more about script writing, acting for both live theater and film, and the adobe softwares involved in modern filmmaking. This is how Chafetz was able to turn lemons into lemonade.

Chafetz’s community theater bug was reawakened when they saw Evergreen’s Theater Club production of “Tick Tick Boom.” Learning that the Theater Club was student led and organized had a grassroots appeal that spoke to Chafetz and inspired them to get involved. Community connections led Chafetz to the Olympia Family Theater where they have become heavily involved.

“The Olympia Family Theater is a very friendly place and is a place where a lot of the members try to support other members,” Chafetz said. “I am very, very happy to have found that again in theater,” Chafetz shared.

Reflecting on Evergreen State College’s Theater Club, Chafetz shared the difficulties that come with the “student led, student organized” nature of the club, how that impacts student learning and performance offerings, and the limited resources and assistance the college has offered.

On Evergreen State College’s Theater Offerings

Benton: I am really interested in hearing your experiences with Evergreen, because I haven't got my foot in the door because I simply have not heard as much about Evergreen’s performing arts, which I did not think existed for a while. I would love to hear about your experiences with Evergreen’s theater program.

Chafetz: “Well, I'll tell you it's not a program. If you want to do something at Evergreen, you kind of have to force your way into doing it in the most not annoying way possible, but certainly in a way that does make you question a lot of the boundaries that Evergreen has, especially in theater.”

“The person who was running the communications building, which has the experimental theater, recital hall, and all the practice rooms and things for theater and music has retired now. In the past couple of years, it has been very hard for students to get access to a lot of the rooms that the COMs staff would have had access to before COVID.”

“Evergreen cut quite a bit of their COMs staff, and it was really only one person running the building for a very long time. Now that is delegated to I believe the Media Loan faculty, the people who are more the film side of the industry rather than the live theater side.”

“There are many music professors that are taking on the responsibility of theater professors at Evergreen. So, for example, I'm currently in a musical theater workshop class this summer, run by Jessica Blinn, who is the choir teacher. She is not a theater professor, but she is giving us readings to do and teaching us from the perspective of the musical side of the musical theater, rather than giving a full acting perspective. Thankfully she has ties to other people in the community that can help give knowledge, but there is nobody employed at Evergreen to teach theater.”

Benton: How does the theater club, which is only student led student run, communicate with admin when they needed to?

Chafetz: “There's only so much that we can do as just students. Our club coordinators are the people who communicate with places like student activities. In order to have student activities advocate to the deans, it's a very long chain, perhaps unnecessarily so, which is the cause of many workarounds that have had to be done in the theater space.”

“We don't have access to the experimental theater anymore, that stopped during COVID. A lot of the things like set building are not able to be done on [the Evergreen campus]. We have to rent out a space from the Olympia Family Theater. Thank you to the Olympia Family Theater for being as supportive as they are.”

“There is no professor at Evergreen with set building experience, and thankfully we wound up having the MckenzieSullivans at Tenino Young-at-Heart Theater build our set for Rumors.”

“As a show, Rumors is set in a 2-story apartment, and there was a whole discussion about if we can even have a platform and how tall? Evergreen immediately told us that we can't build anything and I was like, ‘what do you mean we can't build, we can't build a flat? We can't build walls, build doors?’ The correspondence I got from the college said that ‘anything that needs to go into the space can't be built by students in the COM building.’

‘I wound up talking to facilities in the library basement [after doing run-throughs with student activities], asking them if we could use one of the platforms that they use for events. I had to ask them if they could put it up [as per Evergreen’s regulations previously stated]. Both student activities and facilities approved, and the head of the comm building had to go, ‘I guess there's no reason I can say no to this.’

“It's been very fascinating, because as well as not having like faculty, I think that also means that a lot of the professional side of getting a show put on is delegated to people who have other commitments and are not able to do everything that a show needs [and may not have the full knowledge of how to meet those needs].”

“For Rumors especially, I wound up as director taking on a lot of those positions on myself because as students, we don't have extra time…[each of us have] 16 credits on our plates and are doing a show. It's a lot of work for a bunch of students to be doing, especially without the amount of support that the college could be giving.”

“The students at Evergreen are the lifeblood of this club, and they are the future of theater. It is a little bizarre to think that it's not viewed as important by the school's administration.”

Benton: What could we as community members do? How can we help?

Chafetz: “Go to Evergreen, tell the deans that we need theater classes, please! We need theater staff specifically to run the comm building. We need that building and those spaces to be renovated.”

“I was told multiple times the reason why we couldn't use the scene shop, the experimental theater, the costume loft, was because they were not safe for us. They were not fire safe.”

“There are no staff to oversee us who knew how the building needed to work. They need to hire a technical director that can run the comm building as it needs to be run, so that students can have access to it.”

“Advocation for all of these things would be a very good 1st start, especially for the community to let the deans know that this is what we want.”

Final Thoughts and Reflections

I will always have a heart for any program with roots in the community and the sort of “all hands on deck,” grassroots dynamic, but above all else, safety must be prioritized.

As Chafetz indicated, the college is keeping physical safety in mind, but they are not helping meet student needs in a sustainable way for anyone.

A student-run, student-led club sounds exciting on the outside, but on the inside it is challenging to organize, delegates responsibilities to students who already have too much on their plates, and makes enforcing any code of ethics or rules quite challenging.

Many of these students are fresh out of high school and are still working on developing their leadership skills. It is easy for cliques to form or bullying to take place in these scenarios, and all of that could go under the college’s nose if students feel afraid of the repercussions that could ensue. Students would be all the more hesitant to report these instances if they knew they could be further bullied by their peers or potentially have their club suspended because of the negative behaviors of select individuals.

Adding to Chafetz’s suggestions, I would ask that the college require a faculty advisor be present for all club meetings.

Our community is eager to support the arts. Do not let this moment pass by without doing something. I invite you to email the Deans of Students deans@evergreen.edu and College President Dr. John Carmichael president@evergreen.edu with the words of concern you have.