Students direct three new plays hit campus

Author: Grace Duggan

Here are four creative young directors who have taken it upon themselves to realize their artistic conceptions in three up coming all student productions. After last year's non-departmental theater successes, this year bodes well on the student front. The three plays range from comedy to drama to musical, taking full advantage of Middlebury student acting, production and technical talent. The Campus talks to the directors about the ups and downs of putting on a show.

Production: "The Zoo Story"
Dates: Nov. 8-10, Hepburn Zoo
Director: Dawn Loveland '09
Major: Theatre, Music and Philosophy minors
E-mail oloyo@middlebury.edu for tickets

The Middlebury Campus: Can you describe "The Zoo Story?"

Dawn Loveland: "The Zoo Story" takes place in Central Park in New York City. Originally, it was between two guys, but we are doing it with two girls. They have opposing personalities and [the play] is about an hour-long conversation between the two. The set and costumes are minimal - it is really about letting the actors shine.

TC: Why did you choose "The Zoo Story?"

DL: For me, this is a great introduction to directing at the college level, as well as something I am really interested in doing and practicing for myself. It's a very well-written play, and it definitely goes on a journey that I find mesmerizing and fascinating.

TC: What has been the most difficult thing about directing so far?

DL: One thing is the fact that the play is not about the blocking or the movement, which is something I am more used to, having done some choreography. It is really about getting the actors to be believable - to connect with each other. For me, that has been the hardest to direct. You want to give the actors enough to go by, but not too much that you are telling them what to do. It is important to find that balance.

TC: Why did you choose to change the cast to women?

DL: First of all, I feel like there are so many talented female actors on campus and that it is harder to find a really well-written female part. When I saw this play, I thought it would be a really good opportunity for female actors on campus. I wanted to explore how a modern-day woman would understand the world and how they would interact with another female using a text that may have originally suggested masculinity, as well as how changing gender roles in our society have made people see the world in a different way.


Production: "A Certified Organic Musical"
Date: Oct. 11-13, Hepburn Zoo
Directors: Adam Levine '09.5 and Mallory Falk '09
Major: English
E-mail mfalk@middlebury.edu for tickets

The Middlebury Campus: What's the premise of "Certified Organic Musical?"

Mallory Falk: It is set at a small liberal arts college, very much like Middlebury. A guy and a girl meet at a panini machine. It turns out the girl is from the environmental house and the guy isn't much of an environmentalist. He starts developing this relationship with her and starts to take on the environmental perspective. It is about where the relationship and the school go from there.

Adam Levine: We wanted to incorporate something involving the environmental issue on the college campus. Mallory and I are not environmentalists by any means, but because of all of the tensions that have been occurring on campus and the movement towards a more environmental campus, we knew we wanted to do something involving it.

TC: What has been the most rewarding thing so far?

AL: For me, it has just been seeing our work coming into form, literally seeing the music that I wrote being played, seeing Mall's lyrics being sung and seeing our dialogue being said.

MF: I agree, especially since our process involved doing things a bit separately - Adam wrote the music, sent it to me and I did the lyrics. It has been amazing to see how it can go from sitting by yourself writing something to all these people involved into turning it into something real.

TC: How has it been directing something you wrote yourselves?

MF: We didn't start this show with the goal of direction. We were focused on creating the show, but we decided we wanted to take a hands-on approach with it.

AL: We have no experience directing and, as a result, we've been relying heavily on the cast to make this a collaborative effort. Because of that, we have been able to bring together a piece of work. You don't really know how hard it is to direct until you do it yourself.


Production: "The Country Club"
Date: Nov. 15-17, Hepburn Zoo
Director: Starret Berry '09
Major: Theatre and English
E-mail aguerror@middlebury.edu for tickets

The Middlebury Campus: What play are you directing?

Starret Berry: I'm directing "The Country Club" by Douglas Carter Beane. It's a satire on WASP-y New English culture. On the surface, it mainly mocks the amoral nature of relationships and how everything taboo is never addressed. There is a lot of circuity in the play's language. Ultimately, the message of the play is the emptiness of the "American dream." Beane attacks that whole idea by taking people who have everything and exposing them as having absolutely nothing.

TC: Why did you choose "The Country Club"?

SB: I originally was not planning on doing "The Country Club." I wound up talking to some people and they recommended this show. I read it over, liked it, and saw that it was a good fit for beginning actors and a beginning director.

TC: What has been the most difficult thing so far?

SB: The whole process has been unbelievably difficult. Originally it was a lack of people coming to the first audition. Then it was a lack of one character that I couldn't find anyone to play, then it was a lack of a set designer and then finally the budget for the show. As of right now, I am producing the show as well, until I find an alternate source of funding.

TC: Are you enjoying the experience?

SB: I think it has given me a bigger apreciation for what all the faculty do in the Theatre Department because having a show on my shoulders all of a sudden means my life revolves around this show. You find that you start putting a lot more into the show than you expect when you start. What is great about a student show is that everyone is working together. The show doesn't just become my show. It becomes our show.