The truth. It’s something we search for all of our lives. I know it’s something I search for in my writing, and I know it’s something The College Voice aims to report in its newspapers. But it’s also something that theatre is very, very good at communicating, especially when that communication brings to light issues that are normally kept in shadows.
This week, I attended rehearsals for two of the Theater Department’s senior capstone projects, and while the storylines featured in each could not have been more different, they both had quite a bit to say about not only being true to oneself, but also about being truthful to others and a world which might not always accept the truth.
The first capstone was titled firefly: a foreigner’s tale. Written by Misao McGregor ’18 and directed by Trevor Bates ’18, this production told the story of a single, immigrant family across multiple generations, where each family member had to come face-to-face with the issues of the generation in which they lived. It was a story of society’s outcasts, and of a struggle to preserve culture in a new nation and time where the traditions and customs of the past no longer felt applicable. The show centered around racism, sexuality, and the indomitable way in which the human spirit can persist despite the world rising to become its opponent.
I had the opportunity to speak with McGregor and Bates about why they choose to adapt this subject material into a play and what they believed the role of theatre was in presenting such a tale. For McGregor, “theatre is a platform that can be used to tell one’s truth” and, in doing so, it is able to create something outside of the narrative told by the majority; it can make “space for those who are not included in that narrative.”
To McGregor, this has been the result of a project spanning a year and a half, and culminating into what Bates describes as, “a show that crosses borders between what we know of 1940s immigration and prejudice along with modern day ideals of sexual orientation.”
The duo also reflected upon their years at the College and what the Connecticut College Theatre Department had taught them. McGregor said that “projects that have been challenging here have ultimately shown me what values I hold in theatre. I value being valued in the room, having a voice in the room, [and] being able to collaborate within a process.”
I also sat in on the dress rehearsal of In the Spotlight, which was written by Lindsey Ruzza ’18, directed by Conn alumna Lana Richards ‘17, and featured actresses Lizzy Moreno ’18 and Dara Pohl Feldman ’18. This show was based off of a real-life abuse scandal that happened in 2010 at the Profiles Theatre during that theatre’s production of the play Killer Joe, although names and locations have been changed within the context of the play. The story centers around the victims of an abusive artistic director who physically harms and endangers the actors during the show’s fight scenes, unbeknownst to the audiences who made the play a huge ticket seller on account of what they felt was “authenticity.” While the material of firefly and In the Spotlight differed dramatically, both resonated a strong message on the importance of the truth.
In the Spotlight’s message is about how the truth can be easily blurred and how situations are often not what they seem, by being based on unreliable information or an inability to see the entire picture. For example, in In the Spotlight, all of the characters believe that Feldman’s character, Violet, is going insane based on misinformation about events that happened to her. In reality, she is falling apart as a result of a toxic relationship.
The show also bends reality in other ways. The setting of this show is actually a black box theater, just as Tansill is. In that respect, when characters come onto the stage from different parts of the theater or when sounds are heard coming from backstage, it gives the impression that the audience is fully immersed in the setting. At different parts of the show, the characters pray or speak to what they call the ‘theatre gods,’ and that, added to the campus rumor that Tansill is haunted, makes the whole experience seem very real.
Moreno and Feldman are excellent in this production, and it’s not hard to see all the experience they have had from their years at Connecticut College. Moreno acts as the show’s narrator, a younger girl new to the troupe, slowly becoming immersed in its abusive nature. She’s very much like Calogero from the musical A Bronx Tale in that she is a part of the story but is also removed from it in order to form a closer connection with the audience. Feldman plays a very defensive character who tries hard not to let people see that she’s hurting. Viewers will really root for her character at the end when she stands up to her abuser and gains back the power she has lost.
Seeing the senior theatre capstones each year is highly recommended, as you really get to see a joint effort of experienced actors and creative teams who are bringing something completely original into view. To end with a quote from firefly’s director Trevor Bates, paying homage to what will soon be his alma mater: “This [theatre] department has allowed us to express our ideals, express our beliefs and show who we are as people and how much we’ve grown as actors, as playwrights, as directors, and as makers of theatre”.
Two other capstones, in the ribs devised by Catherine Healey ’18, Gabrielle Schlein ’18, and Katie Soricelli ’18 and The Nether by Jennifer Haley under the direction of Jason Karos ’18 and the design of Rebecca Brill Weitz ’18, will play alongside firefly and In the Spotlight the weekend of April 27 in a showcase of senior talent in Tansill theater.
