by Joe Buffaloe
Daily Lobo
Many theater majors at UNM graduate with nothing more than a degree and a future of waiting tables in New York or Los Angeles.
But there are other options, said Joe Peracchio, artistic director of the Albuquerque-based Tricklock Company, a nonprofit theater organization.
"We say, start a theater company," Peracchio said.
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Tricklock will bring 13 years of experience to UNM this year as part of a residency with the theater department. In addition to teaching classes in ensemble and experimental theater, it will provide workshops for other classes, take on interns and put on plays with UNM students.
"We want to bridge the gap between being a student and being a working actor," Peracchio said. "We also want to teach our methodology of full collaboration on a project, writing and producing something from the ground up."
He compared being in a theater company to being in a band.
"A few actors and designers get together, then they all start writing and performing together," Peracchio said. "Individuals improve by training in a group and working with the same artists over a long period of time."
Tricklock has toured the U.S., Europe and the Middle East, as well as performing plays in the Albuquerque area for more than a decade. It also hosts the Revolutions Festival every year, bringing in artists from around the world to perform locally.
Because of its extensive tours, Tricklock found it difficult to maintain its own local theater, Peracchio said. But with the residency at UNM, Tricklock will have access to venues on campus, such as Rodey Theatre and Theatre X.
Peracchio said in taking on a partnership with Tricklock, UNM will become part of a growing trend in the U.S.
"As art funding slips, a lot of universities around the country are wrapping their arms around theater companies like us," he said.
Both Tricklock and UNM plan to benefit from this relationship, said Susan Pearson, chairwoman of the UNM Department of Theater and Dance.
"We're on the cusp of some big changes," Pearson said. "A lot of retirements are coming up in the faculty, so it's great to have this influx of new energy. Tricklock is on the cutting edge and should bring a lot more exciting work to UNM."
Student David Horowitz agreed.
"It's good to have some younger teachers," Horowitz said. "Plus, it should get students more involved in the local theatre scene."
The residency is only the latest step in a long relationship between Tricklock and UNM.
"The majority of the company either graduated from UNM or studied here," Pearson said. "They've brought in artists from all over the world for workshops in the past. This relationship has been going on for years."
UNM students and Tricklock members are working together on a production of Candide, adapted by Tricklock's Joe Feldman from the book by Voltaire. The play is set to premiere in October at Rodey Theatre.
"It has been so exciting to watch these students," Peracchio said. "They're so eager and hungry."
The most important thing in experimental theater, he said, is to have bravery and an unabashed willingness to look stupid.
"What we really want to bring to students is the ability to create unique theater," he said.
Still, neither UNM nor Tricklock will lose their independence, Pearson said.
"We can learn a lot by seeing the way Tricklock works," she said. "But they can learn by seeing the way we work, too."
