Vig Namasivayam ’16 is a name familiar to the Staples community. Along with being the president of Top Hat Tutors — a student run tutoring agency at Staples — and the President of the National Honor Society, Vig happens to also be the President and assistant director of Staples Players.

“I really love being a leader, it’s something I really enjoy,” Namasivayam said.

Namasivayam found his passion for theater in middle school and participated in the summer show leading up to freshman year, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” Once high school came around, he tried out for the fall show, “Oklahoma,” and didn’t make it.

“I still wanted to stay involved, so I started off as a production assistant and became assistant director for ‘A Chorus Line’ which went up March of my freshman year,” Namasivayam said.

Namasivayam wanted to make the most impact he could in the Staples shows and realized he would be able to do that on a more technical side.

Responsibilities as assistant director include Namasivayam running rehearsals occasionally, blocking scenes, providing input on casting, contributing to the way of the show and taking notes for Staples Players director and theater teacher at the school, David Roth.

Staples Players’ dance captain Carly Kobylinksi ’16 admires everything Namasivayam does for the shows, “Vig is my inspiration. He gets anything and everything done, he’s the man.”

“I really enjoy the general art of direction — seeing how everything is put together on stage and how it contributes to the general meaning of the play, while also looking aesthetically pleasing,” Namasivayam said when noting what his favorite part of being assistant director is.

Staples Players just recently closed the show “Fiddler on the Roof,” and Simon Ginsberg ’16, a friend of Vig’s and vice president of Top Hat Tutors, had nothing but positive reviews for the end result. “It’s a joy to go see the finished product, and who doesn’t love seeing Vig in his bowties?” Ginsberg said.

Although juggling Players with Top Hat Tutors and National Honor Society is tough, Namasivayam always gets the job done, “I don’t really sleep these days… I’m just very passionate about what I do and make time for all of it because its all important to me.”

Ginsberg vouches for Namasivayam’s positive impact on everything he does. “I remember once he sang Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ in a fifth grade concert. I’ve always admired him for his gusto and his willingness to put himself out there,” Ginsberg stated.

Vig says he is definitely directing throughout college. But if he is to continue theater post-college, it would be as a producer.