Izabella Louk C’20 took inspiration, lessons, passion from Drew
November 2023 – Drew University alum Izabella Louk C’20 has launched her own theater company, Blinking Light.
Enlarge
The company, based in Louk’s native Sydney, Australia, came from a realization during the pandemic that recent college graduates were struggling to find theater opportunities.
Louk and a small team raised money and used sustainable resources to put on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. The event sold out a month before opening night and received rave reviews.
“I realized that producing was an excellent way to create opportunities, put on the kind of exciting and innovative work I want to see on stage, and help shape the arts industry towards a more environmentally sustainable future,” said Louk.
The project also has many roots from Louk’s time at Drew, including feedback from a professor during an Arts Administration class project recognizing Louk’s entrepreneurial spirit and suggesting she start her own theater company and create her own work.
At Drew, Louk was exposed to all things theater, which has allowed her to flourish in her new role.
“It gave me a more holistic understanding of what goes into creating theater from the very first whisper of an idea. It gave me a huge appreciation of all the different roles required to make something, and how important collaboration is to any process. Blinking Light gives me the chance to engage in theater in all the different ways I enjoy. It took me a while to figure out how to continue down this path.”
Enlarge
Drew was also where Louk found her true passion for theater.
“Fundamentally—and I know this sounds wildly cheesy—I think it helped me fall in love with theater. We read and saw and engaged with so many different shows and scripts and had the opportunity to create so freely that my love of theater was nurtured and grew beyond anything I imagined when I first arrived at Drew. I had an absolute blast; I was so lucky to be able to create exciting projects alongside my friends in a very safe environment.”
That safe environment gave Louk another important experience she takes with her into her new venture.
“I felt Drew was a very safe place to fail, which I think is so important. Things could go wildly wrong, whether it was on stage, in a Chinese exam, or getting locked out of my dorm, and there was a whole community that would help you get back up and encourage you to try again now you knew what not to do. Being so far from home, this community was so important in shaping who I am as a person—and now today I’m not afraid to get things wrong.”
