Marisa Ayerst is the president of The King’s Players, a student-run organization that brings theatre to the students of The King’s College and performs on campus. With the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic and the decision to close campus for the remainder of the spring semester, the upcoming show, “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead,” had to be put on indefinite hold.

Unlike the Media, Culture and the Arts program, which also produces theatre, The King’s Players is fully student-run. This means the students are in charge of executing the performance of a show.

“I am the president of the org. That means I wear a lot of hats. I’m the president, the managing director, and the producer. As a producer, I basically oversee the budget, then work hand-in-hand with the directing team to make sure the show that they want is the show that they get,” Ayerst said.

The MCA program also produces predominantly musicals, while The King’s Players produces mostly plays.

Despite there already being an established faculty-run theatre organization on campus, The King’s Players offers something unique at King’s. It serves as a way for students to pursue a passion for theatre, without committing to it as a degree or career.

The executive team for The King’s Players (from left to right): Abby Tilly as Artistic Director, Beth Arriola as the Production Manager, and Marisa Ayerst as the Managing Director. || Photo credit to The King’s Players

“Theatre is not something I can say I will be doing for my career, but it is something that I love very deeply, and here I am as the president. I was also in theatre in high school, but wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for a career,” Ayerst said. There is no better city in the world to experience the immersion of theatre and the cultural enrichment it allows. The King’s Players takes advantage of King’s unique location and allows students to get engaged not only in acting and producing plays but also in the theatre world within New York City. “I’ve seen firsthand how [this club] can impact someone’s ability to connect within the city, because it is very much about who you know,” Ayerst said.

Ayerest said King’s was initially very intimidating for her. “My freshman year, I didn’t interact at all. Sophomore year I didn’t interact at all besides going to shows. My junior year, I was asked to audition for the spring show. I had never been in a show,” Ayerst said. “I ended up getting the lead which I was not at all anticipating. [The director] saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself and it gave me the opportunity to explore this new role in theatre that I had never really given myself the chance to experience before, now here I am.”

Theatre is seen by many as a form of escapism, both by the actors and the audience. The King’s Players hopes to serve as an avenue for students to get away from the stresses of college life.

“A goal I had for this year was to make the students who were taking a part of it felt comfortable. I think that’s something really beautiful that theatre offers. If people were having a hard time with school, family, work, life, they could tell themselves ‘I just got to make it to rehearsal’ or ‘I just got to make it to the tech meeting’ and it will be okay,” Ayers said.

Ayerst is a testament to what theatre gives to so many. It has the ability to show someone the parts of themselves they didn’t know they had.

The cast of “A Thurber Carnival” from this past fall’s performance, put on by The King’s Players. || Photo credit to The King’s Players

When boredom hits and entertainment is needed most, The King’s Players and the greater theatre world is not able to offer it to the community. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a complete shutdown of all Broadway theatres until June 7. The King’s College is no different, where on-campus classes have been canceled for the rest of the semester.

The campus is now closed and classes are being conducted remotely, meaning there is no longer a space to hold rehearsals for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. “We were working up until the last possible minute to make sure this show could happen. We were going to do Google Hangouts to rehearse. We worked until we got that notification [that school would be closed]. Even now, I’m thinking, what could we do?” Ayerst said. Despite the sudden cancellation, “If next year’s team wants to continue the show, we say, go right ahead,” she continued.

To Ayerst, the future of the program looks bright, nonetheless.

“In the right hands, the program will continue to grow. If we continue building partnerships in the city, we will find our own space that we can call our own,” Ayerst said.

The Show Cannot Go On: Marisa Ayerst and The King’s Players