Janil Espaillat ’10
Theater Major, Econ minor
F08-S09 D-plan: O-R-R

Favorite and least favorite thing about department: My favorite thing about the theater department is the size. It small enough that you get to know all the student majoring in it and the professors. The small size also allows you to be able to connect with everyone in the department. Each class is at most 20 students. My Directing One class only had 6 students in total. The small size in class also helps you engage and participate more in the class. It gives you and your work more attention in class. My least favorite thing is that there are a limited number of classes offer every term.

Important info for potential majors: Plan your major in advance. The theater department is so small that they only offer certain classes every other year. You also have to take many classes for the major. There are 4 prerequisites you need to take. You also need to be involved in 5 different theater productions which take up A LOT of your time. If you are interested in the FSP, it is only offer every other year.

Talk to me if: you are interested in any aspect of theater even if you are just interested in taking one class

Most valueable academic info learned: I have learned so much from being a theater department. Theater is about people and how they relate to each other. You need to commit everything you got to the class. The classes make you lose you guard, and inhibitions. You become free. It is a reward in itself.

Favorite class and professor: I love all my theater class. My top two are Acting One and Directing One. Acting One with James Rice was fun, and you meet great people. Most of the students in Acting One are not even majors. I become really close with your class. All you did in class was play theater games. Directing One with Jamie Horton was incredible. I learned new ways to look at the text.

Major classes taken: Theater 10, 16, 30, 36, 40, 44, 50, 54; Econ 1, 22

Major journey: I was involved in theater in high school. When I came to Dartmouth, I was not sure what I wanted to major. During my freshman fall I took Acting One and was stage manager in The Lover. My freshman winter, I took another class, and was casted in A Bicycle Country. As I got more and more involved, I fell in love with the department and knew I wanted to be a major.

Major-specific activities: The Lover – Stage Manager A Bicycle Country – played Ines; Hair- Assistant Stage Manager; Julius Caesar- Light Board Operator; Our Lady Of 121st Street - Light Board Operator

Thesis status: None, I will be doing a culminating experience which is Theater 90.

Other activities: Dartmouth College Fencing Club;, Alpha Xi Delta-Formal Chiar; Collis Governing Board-Historian; Haven Homework Club; DAPA

Off-campus program: Theater FSP in London, 08F