Students collaborate April 24 with Ian Belknap, artistic director of the Acting Company, and playwright Marcus Gardley — appearing via Skype from Los Angeles, where he is working on a television script — on Gardley's current draft of the play "X," about the assassination of Malcolm X. Belknap and Gardley sought student responses to the play, and examined structural elements it borrows from William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." The Acting Company, a professional troupe that gave rise to such talents as Kevin Kline and Patti LuPone, will premiere "X" and twin it with "Julius Caesar" on campus next spring. "The workshop lets the play grow without outside pressures and is fueled by the ideas of students," said Belknap, who conducted a series of sessions during his April 24 to 27 residency. "Their imaginations are wild and intellects sharp, contributing to the content and structure of the developing play." (Submitted photo by John Shaffer)