Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

Theater Department presents Spring Showcase

Students present plays about life, death, and rebirth
Article by: Thomas Logan

This week, from Feb. 11 to Feb. 14, the Suffolk Theater Department is running its annual Spring Showcase, a chance for theater students to realize their own creative visions brought to life on stage. All of the plays are student-directed and they all share the themes of life, death, and rebirth.

Reverse Transcription by Tony Kusher, an award winning playwright known best for Angels in America, is being directed by Bryan Daley. It’s an ensemble piece about six playwrights burying a good friend (also a playwright) who are forced to come to terms with their own mortality, as well as their own obscurity. The play focuses heavily on loss and oblivion and how they affect the way we think and value our own lives.

“The cast rehearsed only for three to four weeks but they were able to get a good understanding of the play,” said Daley, and he couldn’t be more right. The play features Ryan Baker, Joe Gianoni, Alex Lawless, Nicole Lee, Deirdre McAllister, Jess Miller and Joe Talluto.

The Pronoun I, by Tennessee Williams, is a lost play that was considered to be experimental in its time. The Pronoun I is the story of a Queen ruling over a decaying kingdom with her lover, all while a revolution pounds at her door. The play seems to be a metaphor for the cycle of life and reincarnation, as well as the conflict between youth and vitality as well as sterility and obligation. Things grow old, die, and are born again. The Pronoun I did have a bit of cast troubles when one of the actors had his appendix removed. Even though the cast had to work around it, they were still able to pull off a terrific performance. The Pronoun I is being directed by Linsey Eagle and features Sal Forte, Bethany Kolenda and Isaiah Rotondi-Gray.

Finally, the Spring Showcase is presenting a special adaptation of the classic German fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm, Hansel & Gretel. The story has been adapted to fit a more contemporary setting and features puppets. It differs from the themes of the fairy tale’s origin. In the original, Hansel and Gretel’s father leads the children into the forest, where he intends to leave them to die because he cannot feed them. This version is more modern and focuses more on how technology affects our life.

“We wanted to do something different from the food origins,” said one of the directors, Brittney Daley. The departure from the original play works brilliantly, so even though the play isn’t as recognizable as the original Hansel and Gretel, it’s able to stand on its own. The play also features Arissara Chounchaisit, Andrew Fairley, Ryan Gonor, Kevin Hadfield, Maite Paillet, Sara Pardo, Meghan Pelletier and Adam Santaniello.

Spring Showcase will an interesting experience that runs this Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. in the Studio Theatre, located on the fourth floor of the Archer Building. Admission is free and open to the public.

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Theater Department presents Spring Showcase