RE: “Showcase student talent,” Nov. 24-30, 2011

I am writing in reference to the editorial entitled “Showcase student talent” that was published about Sock ‘n’ Buskin Theatre Company in the last issue of the Charlatan. I am a member of the executive board of Sock ‘N’ Buskin, and would like to clear up some of the misconceptions that were presented through your newspaper to the entire student population.

Your first claim is that lead roles and director positions “continuously go to those outside the Carleton community.” While this has admittedly been a very recent trend, there are reasons behind this that are out of the company’s control, and as you stated, this does provide students with ‘role models’ and direct connections to the larger theatre community they might not have access to otherwise.

When lead roles do go to community members instead of students, it is because the individual was the best out of those who auditioned for the part — simple as that. The time commitment of the leads is also usually much greater than that of other characters and, in all honestly, requires more time than students are often willing or able to give.  

The sad fact is that Sock ‘n’ Buskin often has participants drop out of productions once they realize the size of the time commitment necessary, and most, if not all, of those participants are students.

The same can be said about the role of director. The time commitment is even greater than that of any actor and, as such, it is often close to impossible for students to effectively balance those responsibilities with those of other obligations, including education.

Also, if you had looked into the selection process the company uses when picking shows for an upcoming Sock ‘n’ Buskin season, you would have found that we prefer to select productions from directors who choose to submit proposals. This submission period is announced publicly every year, and the proposals from This is Our Youth director Iain Moggach are the only ones we have received from a student in my four years of working with the company.

Instead, we often receive proposals from dedicated, experienced, quasi-professional community members that offer a kind of expertise to students that cannot often be found within our younger student body. This provides a rare opportunity to Carleton students and enables them to learn a great deal from these individuals. Students are directly — contrary to your previous accusation — able to “realize and develop their skills” under the coaching and guidance of our devoted and practiced community members through an experience they otherwise might not be able to have.

You did attempt to present a fraction of the reality of the company’s situation, but managed to leave many important components out. You stated that “as a theatre company that also depends on profits to stage plays . . . [Sock ‘N’ Buskin] needs to host big productions to attract larger audiences, which require actors and expertise that may sometimes be easier to find off campus” before swiftly shoving this fact under the carpet.

The entire existence of the company sadly depends on the money we make. If we do not have the finances to back our productions, then there will be a very large, noticeable void in the theatrical opportunities offered to Carleton students. Currently, Sock ‘N’ Buskin does its best to provide as many opportunities as possible for students to experience an environment close to a professional theatre, but the sad fact is that we are not always in the financial position to support a production that might not be able to attract an audience that will pay for its substantive costs.

While it may be an assumption that the company continually makes a profit from the productions, the fact is that our goal remains to break even at the end of a season. Even with the assistance of the greatly appreciated student levy, which basically only pays for our use of Kailash Mital Theatre, we are often left in a tight financial situation. If the company is lucky enough to generate a surplus after one production, you can rest assured that money is fed right back into maintaining the quality of our next show.

There are many costs associated with mounting productions, which you clearly failed to consider in your surface analysis. These expenses can put us in a difficult decision that can force our hand in show selection. However, there is absolutely no question that the quality of the productions, and the opportunities offered to students through them, are certainly worth every penny. You will find that any theatre company will rarely make any form of a profit. That usually includes substantive salaries for the people doing the tasks the Sock ‘N’ Buskin board of executives all independently complete for free, on top of their Carleton schoolwork.

And, since the company is completely run by Carleton students, the board will also draw on the expertise provided by the community members — we are all undergraduate students that are not currently seeking an education in theatre, and can seek assistance on occasion in the running of an entire theatre company.

The fact is that we do our best to attract the involvement of Carleton students, and would never turn away any student who wanted to become involved. We just simply cannot cast every student and community member who auditions in our productions. However, we are open to anyone who wishes to volunteer  — we are in need of students to assist with costumes, set, props, backstage and front-of-house operations. Participating in these functions often provides a great opportunity to garner more experience in a working theatre.

You were correct in stating that Sock ‘n’ Buskin is one of the only outlets at Carleton for students to express themselves through theatre. As such, we strive to produce the best quality productions we can to expose students to as professional an environment as possible.
This must include the involvement of experienced community members who not only work to enrich the experiences of the students involved, but also assist in the maintenance of our ability to continue providing those experiences.

When everything else is said and done, the inclusion of ‘non-students’ actually works in the favour of Carleton students as they get the chance to directly connect with the larger theatre community.

Calling for entirely student-only productions is essentially asking Sock ‘n’ Buskin to deprive students of amazing opportunities. We would never rob any Carleton student of a prime networking opportunity like the kind we can offer with the involvement of community members, and your assertion that we should limit the potential of students’ future theatrical development in order to offer them a few more lines is entirely illogical.

The accusation that Sock ‘N’ Buskin works to “push students out of the spotlight” is simply untrue and appears to be a malicious snap judgment made without gathering all the relevant information. I have to assume that this piece was published without having a frank conversation with any of the executive board members, who would have, if given the chance, been open to a dialogue that would have cleared up the misconceptions that were instead published as fact.

In the future, I would strongly suggest that you fully investigate an issue before publishing anything that could undermine the reputation of a definitely student-run group. I can only hope this lack of research will not continuously taint the pieces published in this newspaper.


– Marissa Caldwell
fourth-year law
volunteer co-ordinator, Sock ‘n’ Buskin