'The Bewitched' to enchant at ACTF Fall production heads to regional theatre competition

Author: Sara Jameson

January is an exciting month for the cast and crew of "The Bewitched" as they prepare to take their show to the American College Theatre Festival (ACTF). When the show went up this fall, it stunned viewers with its intense content, witty humor and tremendous acting. This February, the cast will pack up and travel to ACTF, a competition sponsored by The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and made up of seven regions of competing colleges across the country. As accommodating these many actors, sets and plays is an enormous task, every year the festival finds a new host venue. This year the job falls to Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts.

To compete at ACTF, a college or university must enter a production into the competition during a calendar year. Two regional judges who evaluate all the productions entering the regional competition first evaluate each specific play. This season, 21 productions entered the contest and only six, including "The Bewitched," were chosen to perform at the festival. Four national judges then watch each of the chosen performances and subsequently determine the four to six productions to be presented at The Kennedy Center in April. The director of "The Bewitched," Richard Romagnoli, said, "The competition is very stiff: liberal arts programs like ours compete against BFA conservatory programs and large state universities."

Romagnoli, however, is not too worried. He said, "We've done very well in the past. Each time we've entered, we've been invited to the regionals and twice have had productions presented at the Kennedy Center."

Also held during ACTF is the Irene Ryan acting competition - named after the actress who played Granny in the TV show "Beverly Hillbillies." The winner of this honor receives a sizable cash award to be used for graduate study in any field. One-hundred-fifty student actors and their scene partners will participate in this regional competition. On the regional level, the actors must survive a general, semi-final and final audition before only two are selected to go to the Kennedy Center. There, they will compete against 14 other actors from across the country.

Each actor must prepare two two-minute dramatic scenes and a one-minute monologue. "The judges look for honesty, vulnerability, technical skill (i.e. voice and movement), comic timing and material which is age-appropriate," explained Romagnoli. "Then there is the intangible criterion - taste. Some material may seem too physically violent or vulgar for some judges, while others may be offended by the banality of material taken from 'boulevard' theatre." Romagnoli adds, "The actors shouldn't pick material which they think will please the judges, but should be guided by their aesthetic sensibility, fueled by their passion - material that provides a little view into that small part of the soul, and which forces everyone to take note - 'attention must be paid.'"

Middlebury's actor nominations include the following: Bill Army '07, Laura Harris '07 and Alec Strum '08 from "The Bewitched"; Rebecca Kanengiser '05.5 from Claudio Medeiros' "Necessary Targets"; and Retta Leaphart '06 from Isabel Mettier Professor of Theatre Doug Sprigg's production of "Last Night At Ballyhoo." Middlebury has had five students compete at the national level, including Aidan Sullivan '95 and Claudio Medeirios, who is now a member of the theatre department's faculty, both of whom were national finalists.

As the regional judges have already favorably acknowledged the play, its performance in the festival bodes well. Romagnoli doesn't know exactly how "The Bewitched" will be received, but he believes that the issues that the playwright raises are relevant. He expressed his wish that the audience will relate to the play on a higher level. "Of course I hope people are moved to laughter, and to pity the plight of the protagonist, but also to recognize that the blind acceptance of institutional principles and practices is the surest path towards creating a lobotomized society. The peasants in the play revolt against their oppressors, but when presented with freedom and the possibility of creating an egalitarian society, they cower and bleat like sheep!"

When asked if there were going to be many alterations to the play before its next performance, Romagnoli said, "I don't anticipate making any major changes. Performing in a different proscenium arch theatre seating 1200 people will require logistical changes regarding set changes, and the elephant's head at the end will be considerably more theatrical. But not much beyond that." As a director, he states that he was very happy with the performances in the original production and what he really wants is for the actors to have some "serious fun." There will not even be full company calls until about 10 days before they leave for the festival. "We don't want them to peak too early," explains Romagnoli. There will be a full dress rehearsal at 8 p.m. in Wright Theater on Monday, Jan. 30, to which all are invited.

Harris, acting as the Queen Mother in the play, commented that she is interested to see how it will feel to begin rehearsing a show that has essentially already wrapped. "I've never been in this position before," Harris explained. "I'm curious about how the cast will fall back into their character and how the whole experience of re-immersing ourselves in this world of Carlos II et al. will be."

Strum, who plays Motilla/ Phillip IV, is also ready for the challenge. "I'm excited," he said. "It's an honor to be going to the regional festival and it would be absolutely amazing to get a chance to perform at the Kennedy Center."

It seems as though this re-immersion into "The Bewitched" is being approached with energy and enthusiasm. As Romagnoli said, "Everyone involved is very excited about going to the festival and sharing with other schools an example of the work done at Middlebury. We are proud, but also humbled to have been chosen - there were a lot of good productions that weren't - we're very grateful for this opportunity."

Strum is also thankful for such an exciting opportunity, especially in regards to presenting the play: "I love the show, and it's been really fascinating to be a part of it. I think the play itself, regardless of the quality of our particular production, deserves attention, and I'm glad it's getting it."

With not much time left, the cast and crew of "The Bewitched" prepare for the play's second unveiling, one that could lead them beyond even Fitchburg, Mass. to Washington D.C. and to a possible national title.