Kevin McNulty, actor, graduated 1982
What I learned there is my life. My daughter, Lucy, will graduate Studio in the spring, so鈥� not just my life. By the way, Lucy has five of the same teachers as I had 鈥� 34 years later!
I was 25 when I started, so I was the 鈥渙ld guy.鈥� Because of that, I got some plum roles. Favourite shows were Hamp and Journey's End, two First World War plays. Antony Holland had us spend the night and dig a trench, for research, just outside the Buffalo Lounge 鈥� very fun, muddy night. And, of course, Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream, set in 鈥�65. Opening night Michael Keller and I built a cake in the shape of Gerald King's set 鈥� with sparklers on top. Well, the sparklers set off the fire alarm at about midnight, the firemen showed up in full regalia, as did the Dean, or maybe it was the assistant Dean. We were all in room 63, drinking and smoking and having a riot. Fun, fun, fun. (The firemen with their axes didn't think so.) Pretty sure Kathryn Shaw got called into the principal鈥檚 office the next day. Good times....
Studio 58 was, up until that time, the best two years of my life.
Carmen Aguirre, theatre artist and author, graduated 1993
My alma mater taught me everything I know. A mantra that I carry with me is this: Always take the work seriously, never take yourself seriously. The former is imperative, the latter disastrous.
As an artist who creates personal and political work, I learned what is too personal and what is too violent to present on stage during two performance lab sessions. I carry the lessons learned on those stages to this day.
