S.O.U.P
By Zoe Weyand | Photos by Pearl Spurlock | Design by Angelo Polis
When people think of soup, Campbell’s often comes to mind – whether it’s chicken noodle, broccoli cheddar or cream of mushroom. However, students at Ohio University associate the fall comfort food with something a little different. For them, it is not just about the food – it is about S.O.U.P., the Student Organization of Undergraduate Playwrights. Unlike other student theater groups, S.O.U.P. challenges its members to write original plays, cast, direct and produce a performance in just one month.
As the university’s only student-run playwriting organization, S.O.U.P. works to create a cooperative and welcoming environment where members are encouraged to exercise their creative freedom. That includes allowing members to decide whether they want to create a comedy, drama, tragedy or something in between.
The process of writing and producing shows always begins with picking a theme. The rules are that the theme must be open-ended, and that there are no rules.
Claire Waldrop, a senior studying English and marketing, is the administrative director of S.O.U.P. She describes picking a theme as, “A lot of people yelling out really chaotically. It’s a lot of people’s favorite meeting of the month just because it is so loud and fun and chaotic. It’s people just really vying for what it is they want to write about.”
Alaina Tennant at a S.O.U.P meeting on Feb. 3.
Once the group has suggested enough themes, the chaos continues as prompts are slowly narrowed down until just one remains.
Jack Allen Murphy, a senior studying playwriting and the producing director of S.O.U.P., says the process of picking a theme can take a long time. In fact, Murphy says that the group has sometimes spent upward of three hours selecting a show theme.
Once a theme is chosen, writers can begin brainstorming ideas to make it their own. Themes have ranged from love songs to supernatural to fully immersive – one constant is that the word “soup” is tagged onto the end of each theme, like “immersive SOUP” or “SOUP-ernatural.” This allows writers to experiment with style and subject matter within each five minute play. Waldrop says, however, that they tend to lean more into comedy.
“One thing I will note about S.O.U.P. is I think a lot of our writers typically end up enjoying the comedy elements of it more, which can be really refreshing,” Waldrop says. “I think in a lot of other modes of writing, there’s a lot of value placed on very dramatic and, oftentimes, heavy works, but I think [it’s nice] having an outlet where you can write fun and you can write something that’s quite comedic.”
Waldrop also admits that some themes naturally lead writers to more fun and silly shows.
An example of this is “Whodunnit? SOUP,” which led to a night of extravagant murder mysteries and “campy gags” to entertain the audience.
However, no matter what direction the writers take, they must consider how to get their plays written and produced in a short period of time. In addition to casting, staging and assembling technical elements, writers are also required to attend at least one writing workshop to receive feedback on their scripts. Waldrop explains that the toughest part of the process is often just showing up.
“I think the most difficult thing is sometimes just the time commitment to come to meetings,” Waldrop says. “S.O.U.P. has never been something that, for me, is really difficult, and I think that is the beauty of it and something that we really want to keep about it. We want it to be something that people can do for fun and do to flex their creative muscles.”
Jack Allen Murphy at a S.O.U.P meeting on Feb. 3.
The responsibility of casting, staging, picking props and costumes largely falls on the person who wrote the play, or a separate director if they choose not to direct their own work. However, Murphy and the other executive board members make sure that no director is left to fend for themselves throughout the process.
“I will tell (directors), ‘it’s your responsibility to find props, it’s your responsibility to find this’, but we are still a community,” Murphy says. “If people reach out to me and they’re like, ‘Jack, I have no clue what to do’, whether that’s actors, costumes or props, I’m like ‘let's talk about it.’”
Lastly, one hour before the show is presented to an audience, lights and sound are introduced. Murphy explains that this is because of the fast-paced nature of the group and the fact that the focus is primarily on writing the script.
Once the scripts are written, movements are choreographed, props are set and lights and sound are programmed, the show is finally presented. It is a fast-paced environment that pushes students to adapt to a tight schedule. However, Hayleigh Wilhite, a junior studying acting and university liaison for S.O.U.P., says the organization is about much more than just presenting a show within a set timeline.
“I feel like we definitely have this community, especially when we go to the shows, and I think it makes me a better person,” Wilhite says. “It makes me happy to wake up on a Monday because I know I have S.O.U.P. that night.”
Meetings are held every Monday at 7 p.m. in Room 153 of the Radio-Television Communications Building.
For updates about show locations and themes, follow @ohiousoup on Instagram. b
Top row, left to right: Via Snyder, Terin “Mellohi” Reiber, Cooper Dawson, Alaina Tennant, Caspar Robbins and Hayleigh Wilhite. Bottom row, left to right: Mimi Sheard, Jack Allen Murphy and Claire Waldrop.
