Catherine “Calla” Videt ’08-’09

Despite her high school involvement in theater, music, and dance, Catherine “Calla” Videt ’08-’09 entered Harvard with intentions of becoming a physicist. Now with a substantial list of acting and directing credits to her name, not to mention the first student show on the Loeb Mainstage in 15 years, it might seem as though Videt—the 2009 recipient of the Luis Sudler Prize in the Arts—has traded her passion for physics for a new one. But this is hardly the case. While she admits “I was just never cut out to make it as a physicist,” Videt has found a unique way to combine her seemingly irreconcilable interests in art and science.

In order to help her test the boundaries between theater and physics, Videt designed a special concentration. She—advised by professors in both the English and physics department—is thus able to explore her fascination with expressing intellectual ideas through artistic means.

“Harvard is a place where artists can flourish,” Videt says. “There might be this image that it’s not because there is no [dramatic arts] concentration, or that it’s all about the academics, but you can definitely pave your own way here.”

Videt’s involvement with theater at Harvard began her freshman year when she was cast in four plays. She then moved behind the scenes, directing work in the New College Theatre, Loeb Mainstage, and the Loeb Experimental Theatre. Two of the shows she has directed were originally developed by the London theater company Complicite, including “Mnemonic” and “The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol.” Although she says her influences vary based on the project, Videt cites Complicite as one of her major sources of inspiration.

Videt—who spent her childhood in Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore—believes that her experiences growing up contributed to shaping her artistry today. “Growing up in Asia helped me in terms of being able to explore a certain different type of aesthetic that exists in the world.”

The young playwright’s studies, previous work, and diverse influences have culminated in “The Space Between,” a production which recently premiered on the Loeb Mainstage that she devised and directed. The experimental play—which Videt began working on three years ago—integrates theater, dance and physics.

“I really find the live event of sharing a space and moment with a group of people to be extremely compelling,” Videt says. “It really can be a unique moment of exploration.”

While she originally intended to present scientific concepts in a digestible form, the performance is far from a physics lecture. “I’m not looking to impose them [scientific theories] on people,” she says, “but I’m looking at them more as a way to affect people on a visceral level, in a non-cognitive, aesthetic manner.”

Now, with graduation fast approaching Videt says that while her plans might not be concrete, her goal is to start a theater company. She expects to work with several other current and former Harvard students that she has collaborated with in the past. Though Videt hopes to continue developing “The Space Between,” the company will not necessarily be grounded in any sort of theme such as the link between theater and science. Instead she envisions it as more of an opportunity to explore a multitude of topics and further experiment with more non-conventional theater aspects such as multimedia. “We’re really open to anything,” she says.

To Videt, theater will not be a job, but a way of life. “I want there to be no distinction between work and play and life, no nine to five lifestyle,” Videt says. “I want it to be all integrated.”

—Staff writer Erika P. Pierson can be reached at epierson@fas.harvard.edu.