Anyone who knows me, knows that I love theater. In any given situation requiring a fun fact, mine usually has to do with the amount of Broadway shows I’ve seen. I have a preference for musicals, but I always love a good play. I’m Ang, and I love theater. It’s just part of who I am.

After seeing my first Broadway show in 2002, I’ve spent almost all of my life taking in theater performances. I always loved watching movie musicals, too. I danced, sang, and, for a little while, I did theater, too.

I was in four shows between the fifth and ninth grade, before I developed intense stage fright, and stopped auditioning. I wanted to stay involved in theater, but the options beyond being on stage were slim, and I’m not the kind of person any technical director should be trusting with a drill. Going into college, I wasn’t sure there was a place for me in the theater that wasn’t in the audience.

Coming to the University of New Haven, reacquainting myself with the theater didn’t feel like a priority. I went and saw the productions the theater program put on, and while I didn’t get involved, I found myself progressively missing the theater..

To put it simply: the theater program at the University completely changed my college experience.

I’m not a theater major, or a theater minor, but through the theater program, I’ve been able to get back into theater in a way that I didn’t know was possible.

If you asked me in high school what a “dramaturg” is, or what they do, I wouldn’t have had an answer. I would not have even had an answer in my first year of college, but I do now. I have an answer because I am a dramaturg.

Dramaturgs, according to TDF, “work with various aspects of the production of a work, including crafting educational materials, creating marketing copy, facilitating conversations amongst the artistic team, and running a post-show discussion,” in addition to researching things in the script to provide context, pronunciation help and tips for the actors and creative team. Dramaturgy as a field is not limiting. .

I’ve found a place in the theater for myself where I feel comfortable. I’m not on stage, and through researching and creating, I get to help people. I’ve met and worked with incredible people.

I know where I belong in the theater now, because of all the off-stage opportunities the theater program offers.

Thank you, University of New Haven theater program, for making a theater kid at heart feel so at home.