The newest addition to the theatre program, Mr. Wesley Vineyard, joined the Bulldog family this January and is eager to become a star in the teaching world.
He has been involved in the theatre world for over fifteen years with film and stage as well as technical experience. Vineyard recently graduated from Texas State University in December with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in theatre education.
“I really took a liking to the behind-the-scenes, so that’s why I applied for the technical theatre position here,” Vineyard said.
Portraying other characters on stage helped him in his own self-discovery journey and provided the opportunity to live the unique lives of each character he was cast as.
“It was an escape for me to not be who I was every day, but at the same time… the more I went into it, I found out a whole bunch about myself,” he said. “As much as I was trying to run away from it, it actually made me figure out who I was as an individual.”
When casting shows, Vineyard looks for actors who aren’t afraid to go for it. He believes there is more to acting than memorizing lines and values actors who come in with an idea and something to work on with other people.
“You look at it as a team sport,” he said. “I know it’s kind of weird…How [do] art and sports mix? We all come together collaboratively to put on a show and a production… Don’t just know your part, but know what you’re a part of.
He is zealous to improve as an educator and help young minds grow.
“I’ve been in college for four years, and so they teach you all these things–theories and things like that–but now comes the time where I take all that knowledge and put it to use,” Vineyard said. “What I’m most excited about is getting to use the things that I learned to help me become a better teacher. I know I’m not the teacher that I’m going to be in 10 years, but I’m always chasing after that person.”
There is one crucial message he hopes to impress on his students:
“It’s doable,” he said. “You can figure it out. You have the tools, you have the resources. I’m gonna teach you the things of how to get the answer or how to solve the problem.”
To Vineyard, a good director is a good teacher–someone willing to guide people.
“Teaching is learning, and directing is putting on that show,” he said. “[A good director is someone who is] in service to others. It’s not a selfish art, it’s ‘What can I do to help other people?’”
Vineyard strives to expose people to things that will spark their passion, as theatre did for him when he was younger.
“I watched the production of Wizard of Oz,” he said. “There’s a scene where the flying monkeys that the witch casts out go and get Dorothy and the red slippers and all that and she goes ‘Go! Go! Fly, my pretties!’ Well, they flew into the audience. Those actors came down into the audience and they grabbed me. They ended up taking me backstage. Of course, they stayed in character and all that, but it made me fascinated. How did they make the person disappear? And that is a question I’ve always tried to ask myself: How can I get back to that moment? [Not only] for myself as an artist, but also create those aha-lightbulb moments for my students too.”
