Wabeno breaks, redefines rules in Zoo

Author: Ellen Grafton

"Wabeno," a student show being put up in the Zoo, opens on Nov. 9 and promises to be something very different for the Middlebury theater scene. Produced by senior Jeff King, it seeks to break the rules associated with traditional theater and to create an exciting, new experience for the audience.

The flyers and posters that have advertised the show for the past week are fairly non-traditional, featuring little more than a black-and-white graphic of a section of a face and the title "Wabeno". The official posters show only faces splattered with glowing paint and a few short lines with event details. Such a conspicuous lack of description, author or any additional information reflects the show's desire to be both cryptic and striking.

King, one of the show's creators and the closest thing "Wabeno" has to a director, was slightly less cryptic in describing the show's inspiration and intended effects. According to King, it was inspired by a piece he and some friends saw in Scotland, which had "a bunch of weirdly dressed actors speaking in gibberish and throwing paint on everyone." These 10 actors sought to take this form of rule-breaking art and expand upon it. The result was "Wabeno." There is no real script - it is simply a performance piece created through the collaboration of the actors who devised their own language, set, costume and movement.

A few of the 10 actors involved in this project, like recent alumnus John Stokvis '05, have had extensive theater experience, while others have little or none. King said that while he has great respect for the Middlebury theater department, he hoped to use actors who were not as theatrically trained.

"We wanted to take a group of kids who haven't been taught how to control their every movement and emotion and allow them to create their own world with its own set of rules, and I think we have accomplished that," he said. "The result [is] less of a 'play' and more of an experience."

Asked what sort of experience "Wabeno" will turn out to be, King advised potential participants to expect anything but the expected. Upon arriving, the audience will be supplied with disposable Tyveck coveralls and led into the theater. There will be no set and no seating, and the audience will be fully expected to participate in the performance. They will be "bombarded from every angle by anything from live music and dance to water and paint," said King. The cast hopes that this unconventional approach will encourage the audience to rethink their usual expectations of, and participation in, a performance piece.

"Wabeno" is an experiment in thought and expression, but it also is a piece that promises to be as fun as it is challenging. As King said, "The audience will leave the theater covered in water, sweat, smiles and yes, paint." He added playfully, "If you've never had LSD, this would be one of them good trips."