The Cuesta College Theater Program’s continued success following its production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time ensured a different kind of award for the first time in its history.
After the first set of performances last December, the Cuesta production was chosen to represent the Western United States at the Kennedy Center American College Festival in Las Vegas. The theater program then performed the show again this January and raised more than $20,000 to travel to the Westgate Resort and Casino. Finally, after winning 11 national awards and receiving a stream of community requests for more performances, Cal Poly’s Performing Arts Center contacted Artistic Director bree valle to stage the play at the university.
“The show was really designed for a much more intimate relationship between the audience and the performers, so we decided to keep it at Cuesta,” valle told New Times. “But if we were going to do it again, we wanted to give an opportunity to the students who’ve done it twice. Instead of having to pay to do the class because it’s a class project, they’d get paid, and it would count as a professional gig.”
The Cuesta program partnered with an arm of the college called Community Programs, and each member of the student company received $1,000. Those payments came from all the money raised by performing the shows.
“Community Programs have fee-based classes that they offer that community members can take,” valle said. “But they also act as a nonprofit for things like the SLO Wind Chamber [orchestra], and by running it through Community Programs, the students were able to get paid.”
Thanks to the fresh wave of interest, the college staged 11 more shows, which concluded in mid-September. Valle told New Times that continuing to pay students for future productions is a possibility, depending on the success of the shows and the availability of the actors.
Now, the Cuesta program is gearing up to stage an immersive Shakespeare show from Sept. 19 to 21. Eight Shakespearean themes will be performed in vehicles. The interactive experience allows the audience to move from vehicle to vehicle in pairs where they will witness a drama, farce, thriller, or comedy.
The Cuesta theater program’s impact is widespread. Valle said that its staging of shows at national festivals attracted people from different schools to the local program.
“This is the fifth show that we have taken to festival,” valle said. “Cuesta has a reputation nationwide for being one of the strongest college and university programs in the nation. We’ve won best play five times at national awards.”
For valle, the success of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time production came from the combination of actors, the script, and technical savviness. Cuesta’s production is based on a stage play adapted from the book of the same name written by Mark Haddon. The stage play, written by Simon Stephens, premiered at the Royal National Theater in London in 2012. Soon, it found its way to the West End, Broadway, and ultimately Cuesta College.
“This play is about representation onstage,” valle said. “Our lead actor who plays Christopher—who is neurodivergent—is also neurodivergent. That’s very unique. Out of all the research that I’ve done, I’ve never seen a student or an actor who’s neurodivergent play this role.” Δ
Reach Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal at brajagopal@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Student Guide 2023.