Dominic Piacentini
A&E Editor
Craving fairy tales? Then come to this weekend’s Theatre I.S. productions. Schoolroy Theatre will be hosting Amanda O’Connell ’14 and Janna Haywood ’14 as they present their I.S. productions to the public.
Haywood’s production, titled Crave, is written by playwright Sarah Kane and spotlights the human condition as well as the different forces like love, loss and mental illness that are constantly affecting it. To explore this, Crave incorporates in-your-face theater.
In-your-face theater is “all about jarring your audience and making them think; putting what needs to be heard right into the audiences’ faces,” Haywood explains. In particular, she notes the brutality that is present in the text and staging. she was drawn to Kane’s work because of her focus on morality and identity.
For the audience, Haywood explains that, “the issues are thrown out there and presented so honestly, that it allows you as an audience member to be honest with yourself, even for a brief moment. As artists, we are always looking for a truth. I found this play to be an opportunity to puncture the wall of some who may be hiding and allow them to understand themselves and humanity, truthfully, if only for a few moments.”
To connect with this truth, this identity, Haywood and the participating actors kept journals and wrote about their changing relationship to the script and to the rehearsals. Haywood explained that this helped the actors create deep connections with the individuals they are portraying. Haywood included the journaling and discussion to allow “the characters and the actors [to share] the same space.”
Haywood believes she has found her niche in theater, explaining, “I found theater for social change. The concept of changing the world with theater seems impossible to some, and that might be what I love about it. It is so taken for granted, and people don’t realize that the basis of society and culture revolves around theater and has for a very long time. Understanding that I can educate, entertain, connect and remedy people through live action on stage is so enthralling to me.”
The production by O’Connell explores classical interpretation of fairy tales and how they can be subverted. Andrea Luedtke ’14 will be directing a short reading of O’Connell’s original short play collection Voices from the Woods: Classic Fairy Tales Revised and Revisited. The goal of this play collection is to expose the often problematic representation of women and girls in literature. This production will focus on how classic fairy tales have affected the creation and perception of gender roles.
“I really do love fairy tales as a genre, but I don’t always like how the genre treats girls”, said O’Connell, “The thing with fairy tales is that they’re stories that have been constantly told and retold, and when you trace the history of different stories you see how different they are depending on the teller’s ideas of morality and goodness. We think of them as stories that are timeless, but they’re not. They reflect a lot of our cultural values. By retelling them again, I’m continuing in the tradition of the fairy tale and fairy tale authors.”
O’Connell encourages students to attend the productions this weekend because “A lot of students, faculty, and staff have put their time and energy into the productions, and the result is a collection of really thought-provoking pieces.” Haywood believes that they will open up a new dialogue for the Wooster experience.
Both productions will take place tonight and tomorrow, in Schoolroy Theatre at 8:15 p.m. This is a ticketed event. If you haven’t gotten one you can reserve a ticket in the box office of the main lobby of Freedlander.