Three Sisters

 I had the great pleasure of seeing one of my fellow Hillsdale Alumni perform in a production of Chekhov's brilliant play Three Sisters. Anton Chekhov is one of my favorite playwrights and he holds a place close to my heart because we did scenes from Uncle Vanya for our Acting II class at Hillsdale. This production of Three Sisters was put on by the Bouyant Theatre Collective and I absolutely loved it! The performance space was in an old storage area or warehouse. The whole cast did an excellent job with some outstanding performances. My friend, Abigail Nones, shined in her role as the youngest of the three sisters, Irina. Other actors whose performances I really enjoyed were those playing the roles of Andrey, Kulygin, Ivan Romanovich, Masha, and Olga.

Andrey (Luke Weber) contemplates an intellectual career

 As with Chekhov's other full-length plays, Three Sisters centers around the decline of a wealthy, noble family in Russia. At the beginning of the play, the three sisters and their brother have recently lost their father. As children, they lived in Moscow but now reside at a country estate outside a small village. They all dream of the day they get to move back to Moscow but as the play moves on that dream becomes less and less achievable. Their brother gets into gambling trouble and ends up mortgaging the house without the permission of his sisters. Eventually, the soldiers who were stationed at the small village and who provided much of the amusement in the little town are moved to a new location. The sisters had developed strong relationships with many of the soldiers and their departure left the sisters feeling empty and alone. While the end of the play is bleak, there is a ray of hope in their determination to start their lives anew working for a better life.

This Year's ACTF

It is that time of year again. Yes, the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival: Region III was about a week ago and here I am to tell you about my wonderful experience. As always, ACTF provides a great opportunity to expand your skills within theatre through attending workshops, seeing plays, and showcasing your talent whether that be as a performer or a designer. This year's crop of shows was a lot of fun. As always, there's at least one show that simply does not impress. Of course, there are also plenty of amazing shows that make up for that one bad play. The shows I got to see this year include: Rent; The Beaux Stratagem; Risata, Sciocco . . . Risata!; Gone Missing; Master Harald . . . and the Boys; and The Circus in Winter. What a great variety of shows to see! I think I both laughed out loud and shed a tear during each one of these shows.

The show I appreciated the least was Rent. I think the biggest problem the show had was its staging. There were some really odd blocking choices that muddled the storytelling. Their use of their amazing set was also somewhat confusing. It was sometimes hard to tell which space the stage was suppose to represent because they didn't keep the entrances/use of space consistent. There were also video projections in the background which worked some of the time during the show but I don't think they should have been running when they weren't the primary focus. All that said, you've got to remember that this show is being performed in a completely different space than where it was meant to be performed and it is often difficult to transfer everything without a hitch. Still, Rent was not all I thought it was going to be.

My favorite show of this year's ACTF was the student written The Circus in Winter. Students from Ball State University collaborated to write this adaption of the Cathy Day novel of the same name. It tells the story of a simple Indiana stable-owner during the late nineteenth century and his experiences in attempting to bring a dying circus back to life. The show was visually stunning and musically incredible.

The magnificent set design depicted the interior of a round barn. The stairways moved to help suggest the different places the characters found themselves in. The costumes were colorful, exciting, and realistic. What was the most impressive about the show, however, was a life size elephant puppet! The design, construction, and puppeteering of the elephant took my breath away. You didn't have to imagine much as the elephant boomed onto the stage! What I appreciated most about this show was its unique use of folk music. Being one of my favorite genres of music, this instantly caused me to fall in love with the show as soon as they started strumming that guitar and picking that mandolin.

ACTF is always an eye-opening, talent stretching experience and this year was no different. So much theatre packed into one week is both exhausting and filled with pleasures. I greatly regret that this is the last ACTF I will attend as a student. I will miss the amazing shows, the great workshops, the beautiful design projects, and, of course, the fascinating people you meet who have just as much a passion for theatre as you do. So long, ACTF. You will be missed.

Lighting the Importance of Being Earnest

There is another aspect of theatre that I love being a part of but haven't had a chance to talk about as much. Besides performing, one of my favorite areas to work with is lighting. At Hillsdale I am one of the Lighting Assistants and for The Tower Players production of The Importance of Being Earnest I was lucky enough to be the Assistant Lighting Designer. I helped Michael Beyer, our Head Lighting Designer, draw the light plot and pick color for the show. Color and lighting are a couple of the most fascinating concepts that go into producing a play. There is so much that lighting can either give to or take from a show. The color and lights set the mood, they provide visual interest and dimension, and they light the actors' beautiful faces. I've loved the process of designing lights for The Importance of Being Earnest and I hope I get to design lights for another show soon!

Waiting for Godot

The Tower Players first show of the season was the modern classic Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. Beckett works against conventional storytelling in this play where two characters literally sit on-stage and wait. It has been described as a play in which nothing happens but you want to watch every second of it. I had the honor of playing Estragon, one of the two main characters. With his friend Vladimir, Estragon waits near a tree/shrub/bush for the mysterious gentleman called Godot. In the process two other gentlemen stumble upon the waiting pair and cause some diversion, if only for a short while.

 

I loved every second of being in this incredible show. Waiting for Godot accomplishes everything I think a show should. It makes us take a look at what we believe and why we believe it. While it brings up doubts in humanity, I think in the end it serves to strengthen the belief that there is something at the end of the road and that the waiting will be worth it.

Catching Up

So I've been neglecting my lovely blog for a little too long. I know my plethora of readers are disappointed in me. I can only beg your forgiveness and promise that in the future you will be promptly informed of any theatre happenings in my life. With that said, the next few posts should catch all of you up to speed on my experiences in the last six months or so. Enjoy!