Despite JCU no longer having a Theatre Department, there is still a strong desire for the fine arts on the campus. Passionate students have come together to start a Theatre Club that is now officially recognized by John Carroll’s Office of Student Engagement. The organization is full of people who all share a similar connection to theatre. If they don’t, the club is more than welcoming to anyone with an interest in the fine art.

During Theatre Club’s first meeting of the semester on Oct. 6, students were treated with a presentation of what the group has in store for the fledgling club. Their schedule may be tentative, but they are committed to bringing a theatre presence back to JCU. They are working to cultivate spaces where performances can not only be performed but encouraged and prosperous.

What this means right now is they are prioritizing smaller-level projects such as recruitment and showcases. This week, the club will host a variety showcase that is open for all students to watch. In said showcases, the organization is looking at smaller-scale performances in the Leone J. Marinello Little Theatre performed by the current members, like one-act plays, songs and even dramatic readings.

With the foundational work behind them, the Theatre Club hopes to have much more robust offerings in the future such as a concrete schedule of performances that are open to the entire student body with the eventual goal of utilizing the Kulas Auditorium for performances. For too long it has collected dust, but they are willing to put it to use. More than anything else, the Theatre Club wants to make sure the performing arts have a permanent home at JCU.

Heading the club are devoted students and a faculty member who have a plan to keep it alive. Two of the student heads, Maddie Jarosz and Brian Piccuito, along with the advisor for the group, Dr. Phil Metres were interviewed about their newly formed club.

Maddie Jarosz ‘25 is a student majoring in English at JCU. Jarosz is someone who has been entrenched in theatre her entire life. For her, being able to engage in theatre is just as valuable as any other pursuit:. she values it as a form of storytelling that is capable of transforming a bad day into a good one. It made her especially distraught to learn that it was not offered at JCU by the time she got there. Yet, she got together with like-minded friends and now finds herself as the Vice President of the brand-new organization on campus.

Jarosz talked about how they can be therapeutic for performers and audiences alike. Audiences are provided with a sense of escapism from their day-to-day toils. Additionally, she believes theatre is a chance to present stories that get people to think about life more in-depth. Jarosz wants everyone to know that “‘theatre has something for everybody in it.’”

Brian Piccuito ‘26 majors in finance and entrepreneurship at JCU and he serves as the financial advisor of the Theatre Club. This position entails managing the funds and, the part he is most interested in, advertising. Piccuito wants to spread the word about Theatre Club to get more members and more people in seats to watch any performances the club hosts. Piccuito himself has been acting since he was in elementary school and plans to continue that through the club.

Both Jarosz and Piccuito emphasized that the work they will be doing in the Theatre Club is foundational. This is a grassroots movement and that means that results are not instantaneous, but that absolutely does not devalue their commitment to the cause.
Aiding this goal is their advisor, Dr. Phil Metres, a professor of English and the director of the Peace, Justice and Human Rights program at JCU. Metres has several published poetry books like “To See the Earth,” “Shrapnel Maps” and “A Kindred Orphanhood.” He may not come from a theatre background like his advisees, but he is no less passionate about the fine arts. To him, the existence of the Theatre Club “means that the arts are alive and people want to be a part of them.”

Metres values the ability of theatre to “express [the] predicament of being” in a way that just reading a text cannot sometimes. Performances, like the poetry readings Metres is familiar with, can transform the abstract into the tangible through uniquely human expressions. He believes that it allows people to connect with a piece of work more intimately than just consuming it in a classroom. He has high hopes for the Theatre Club and wants to see them making their own full-scale productions in the future. Metres wants the Theatre Club to know that the entire English department is rooting for their success and, for him, that success means even just one play being held.

The Theatre Club is a passionate project that the former head of JCU’s Theatre Department, Dr. Karen Gygli, wants to leave a message for: “Create your own traditions and your own magic! Don’t be afraid to reimagine what theatre should look like at John Carroll.”

The club hopes to embody this saying during their debut showcase on Nov. 30th at 8 p.m. in the Marinello Little Theatre. All performances will be performed by club members and anyone is welcome to enjoy the show. Any additional questions regarding the showcase should be directed to [email protected].