By Sasha Schechter

oberlin.edu

From March 11-13, Little Theater was home to Black and Blues, an original artistic collaboration created and directed by Visiting Assistant Professor of Theater Justin Emeka.  The piece includes dance, song, and scene revolving around Black History and the transition of “Africans” to “Black Americans.”

Black and Blues has an immensely talented cast of artists and takes its audiences on a journey through the African American experience, starting at slavery and leading up to today.  The combination of movement, music, and dialogue from the actors had a powerful impact; where words failed to portray the necessary emotions, there was a song or a dance that compensated beautifully.

The choreography, by Jessica Judson ’10 and James Pressley ’12, held aspects of Capoeira, contact improvisation, and modern dance.  Dance was a central aspect of the piece and was essential when the audience attempted to fully comprehend the stories and their emotions.

Halfway through the show, the lights dimmed, and the omnipresent projectors played a clip of an old minstrel act.  The men of the ensemble played a scene over the projections that was the simultaneously shocking and striking; they applied blackface and danced stereotypically in place, gluing smiles onto their faces underneath their bright red lipstick.

Black and Blues was filled with these kinds of moments; the show was book ended with the main acting ensemble chanting about their blues–their struggles with the world at large and how it conflicts with their identities–and the way they still have to deal with them every day.  They shouted about how they laugh to keep from crying.  The message was heartfelt and hit the audience in a way that was unsettling and personal.

This production’s artistic unification was its high point; this show managed to combine all aspects of theater, music, and dance to create a historical, cultural environment. The emotions presented to the audience ranged from desperate and uncomfortable to joyous and passionate.  The show encouraged audience response, and it received plenty of it from audience members of all backgrounds.

But the conversations dominating the audience that I heard as I left gradually shifted from this show’s artistic brilliance to another topic: Why did the director and performers think a show such as this one was necessary at Oberlin?  There has been a marked divide in theatrical productions here recently between “neutral” shows and shows specifically intended to bring racial issues forward.

Many shows here have attempted to spark discussion about racial issues at Oberlin and in the world at large, while others have often been perceived as ignoring or hiding the race of their performers.  Seldom has there been a show that attempts to acknowledge race, while also exploring other issues.  Do you think this division exists in Oberlin Theater?  If so, what are the ramifications? Post a comment with what you think. What needs to change?

By Sasha Schechter

Intimate Apparel was Hall Auditorium’s first show of the semester, directed by faculty member Caroline Jackson-Smith and written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage.

The evening was filled with stunning performances by the entire ensemble, emphasized by the brilliant set and lighting designs.  The set was made up of five different locations, on three moving platforms and two stationary areas.  Each location was home to one of the protagonist, Esther’s (Heather Harvey ’11) clients or friends – a distinction that is hard to make both for Esther and the audience.

The platforms and people on them would move to and from Esther, occasionally leaving her alone on stage with no location around her.  Literally and metaphorically, Esther’s network of people would come and go throughout the timeframe of the play.  This function of the set wonderfully enforced Esther’s constant loneliness and need for human connection.

While that part of the play’s message was clearly portrayed, another was not.  This show proved to be difficult to perform in an environment like Oberlin.  At a school that is so focused on strong character and progressive thinking, it’s hard to imagine accepting a female character written to be as weak and desperate as Esther is.  I think this conflict – between what the reality of the script is, and what the ideal at Oberlin is – showed in Harvey’s character choices.

Harvey created a strong, determined Esther against sophomore Ralph Johnson’s striking performance as her chauvinist husband.  The contrast of the two strong beings never fully clicked with the overarching theme of the play; since Esther’s desperation was subdued, audience members were left grasping for clear-cut answers as to why such a strong woman would let herself end up in such a self-deprecating situation.  Regardless of Esther’s character details, the show brought Friday night’s audience to its feet at the end of the show.

The acting in this production was solid and polished; there wasn’t one character on stage that the audience couldn’t understand or relate to.  Lisa Brown ’11 (Mrs. Dixon) was particularly memorable; she fit the character so well and managed to entice the audience in the handful of times she was on stage.  Similarly, Billy Ferrer ’12 (Mr. Marks) offered an honest and vulnerable performance that added subtle levels to the overall plot.

Samantha Boyd ’11 (Mayme) and Atty Siegel ’12 (Mrs. Van Buren), both friends and/or clients of Esther’s, performed with Harvey in vastly different ways that presented the complete spectrum of Esther’s social life to the audience.  These two characters are so vital to understanding Esther’s personal struggles, and Boyd and Siegel worked separately but together to showcase them flawlessly.

The production was, overall, very strong.  Regardless of the small issues with interpretation, Intimate Apparel was a comprehensive period piece.  It was informative, entertaining, and heartfelt.  The bar has certainly been set high for the rest of the semester’s main stage productions.

By Sasha Schechter

Betrayal, written by Harold Pinter and directed by faculty member Paul Moser, opened in Little Theater last weekend.  The show starred Emma Walton ’10 (Emma), Donnie Sheldon ’10 (Robert), and Josh Christian ’10 (Jerry).

Harold Pinter is a Nobel Laureate, and is certainly one of the most influential playwrights in recent history.  He wrote Betrayal in 1978 based off of real-life experiences, and it is considered to be one of his greatest works.  Paul Moser directed this senior honors project spearheaded by Emma Walton.

To an actor, Pinter’s neutral dialogue acts as a bare canvass, on which he or she can create a character that best suits their acting style.  In this production, Robert’s subtle, sinister ways combined with Jerry’s awkward guffaws and mixed with Emma’s nervous-yet-cool composure to create a production that toyed with its audience’s emotions and built suspense in a play that is written to move backwards in time.

The set was sparse, made up of rehearsal cubes and block furniture; there were limited props, no liquid in the liquor bottles, and the lighting design was straightforward ‘up’ and ‘down.’  While the simplicity highlighted the story and the acting over everything else, the lack of liquid in their drinking glasses made it difficult to gage just how much the characters were consuming.  It was hard to imagine how they weren’t intoxicated to the point of not functioning.

Perhaps there were a few too many drinks consumed, or an overabundance of awkward guffaws, but neither of these things managed to make me dislike this production.  The actors showed remarkable skill in portraying their characters, and, despite having read the play only a few days before seeing it, they managed to keep me on the edge of my seat to the very end.

Sheldon’s performance as Robert had so many levels that he never seemed to run out of information to share with the audience.  He used every moment on stage – from the way he sat in his chair, to the way he raised a drinking glass to his mouth – to relay more information about himself and the story.  His character choices provided rich subtext to the plot, and he elicited a broad range of reactions from the audience.

Walton, who chose this play as her honors project, showed a thorough understanding of the production’s structure and overall intention.  With no visual indication that time was moving backwards – only a note in the playbill – the audience would have been lost if not for Walton’s skilled capacity to lessen her character’s knowledge from scene to scene.  The audience looked to Walton for confirmation of what we should or shouldn’t know from scene to scene, and she never let us down.

Christian’s Jerry was simultaneously adorable and slimy.  We never knew just how to feel about him, and if at any point his character seemed clear cut, he would do or say something that made us doubt his intentions.  In particular, any time a game of squash came up, Christian’s eyes would bug, and keep the audience in a frenzied guessing game as to whom he would actually play squash with–Robert? Or perhaps Casey?–and what exactly playing squash means to these people.

Sheldon, Walton, and Christian worked together to create tangible tension, evident in every word.  Between Pinter’s writing and the hard work put into this production, Betrayal was a down to earth show that glorified action over technology and design.  It was a breath of fresh air amongst flashing strobe lights and projector screens. Honors projects like these show the strength of the department’s training and of the students’ work.

By Sasha Schechter

Photo from the Facebook Event page. Samantha Abrams of Theater Publicity

The semester’s first Main Stage production will be Intimate Apparel, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage and directed by faculty member Caroline Jackson-Smith, opening Thursday, February 11.  The cast features Lisa Brown ’11 (Mrs. Dixon), Billy Ferrer ’12 (Mr. Marks), Sam Boyd ’11 (Mayme), Atty Seigel ’12 (Mrs. Van Buren), Ralph Johnson ’12 (George), and Heather Harvey ’11 (Esther Mills).

When asked to give a quick summary of what the play is about, assistant director/sound designer/dramaturge Ben Ferber ’11 said, “Intimate Apparel…is about an African American seamstress in 1905 New York.  She travels around the city meeting her clients, friends, other people, and all the while she’s being courted by George.  The courtship develops into a marriage.”

Caroline Jackson-Smith had something slightly different to say: “This is a play about underwear, à la 1905.  It’s about beautiful corsets, underpinnings that both shape women and restrict women, and that are luscious and gorgeous, but also prison-like.”

I asked Jackson-Smith in an email why she felt this play about restrictive underwear was important to do now, here at Oberlin. “I think this play about the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries really speaks to our current moment – the turn of the 20th to 21st centuries.    We still struggle to break through socially constructed barriers to form intimate bonds.   Women continue to break through the constraints of history and clothing to find equal opportunity for career success, while all of us continue to try to find love and acceptance – to balance personal freedom with human connectedness.  I also think, from a technical perspective, that this play presents wonderful acting challenges and an opportunity to showcase our incredible costume design and production capabilities.”

This show has an exciting design concept:  Jackson Smith explains that Lynn Nottage’s plays have been called cinematic due to their shifting scene locations.  “This play in particular, jumps between 5 or 6 locations with the central character, Esther Mills as the only border crosser.    I wanted us to see these worlds moving in and out and sometimes leaving Esther alone between worlds.”

To do this, set designer Mike Grube has created an inventive set that actually moves Esther between the worlds: “the worlds literally move, sometimes coming closer to each other and sometimes flying away leaving one area in isolation. We’ve attempted to mirror not only Esther’s experience and Nottage’s design, but also the truth that we all move in and out of each other’s worlds.  Jeremy Benjamin’s lighting really punctuates this design decision.”

Beyond the inventive scenery and pointed lighting, the show is made up of many other complex elements, and has been an exciting challenge for everyone involved in the production.  “With a huge backstage crew, lots of period specific props, live and recorded music and on and off-stage costume changes – there are lots of great challenges for the designers, crew, actors and me.   Also, several characters work with accents as well as period clothing, so that’s always fun!”

What more could you want?  Be sure to check out Intimate Apparel, running February 11 – 13 at 8 p.m. in Hall Auditorium.  Tickets are available at Central Ticketing Services and Wilder Front Desk.

Special thanks to the Theater and Dance Publicity and Amanda Turner for their video interviews with Caroline Jackson Smith and Ben Ferber.

By Sasha Schechter

Photo by Samantha Abrams, from Oberlin Theater & Dance

Director Philip Waller ’11 saw the labors of his direction come to fruition during his Oberlin-ified adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost.

On my way to see Love’s Labour’s Lost this past weekend, I was sweating about how I would write a review on a play with which I had so much negative association.  I must admit something right off the bat: Love’s Labour’s Lost is my least favorite Shakespeare play.  I feel that it’s one of Shakespeare’s more self-indulgent endeavors, and no one I know can successfully explain to me the purpose of the final scene’s play within the play.

After over-analyzing and fretting, I was extremely pleased to find that this production turned out to be comic greatness that entertained from the first minute to the last, and it even made me like the play more.

Photo by Samantha Abrams, from Oberlin Theater & Dance

Perhaps the root of its success, the play was adapted to reflect on the themes of love, lust, and the struggles of approaching adulthood in the context of Oberlin’s campus (here named Navarre University) in the present day.  The characters were costumed to reflect different kinds of students at the school–from nerds to preps to hipsters–and the set seemed to be modeled after the stone stage and half-columns that sit outside Warner Gymnasium.

The simple scenery allowed the audience to feel grounded in the location; it was a comfort when the language and the basic plot of the play felt a bit fuzzy due to the way the play was written and the fact that certain scenes did not completely fit within the artistic vision.

The most impressive feat of this production was the polished 18-person ensemble.  Having 18 people in Little Theater already feels like the house is moderately full; 18 actors plus a full audience is something most directors would avoid at all costs.  Waller tackled the challenge with apparent ease and put together a fluid, solid, and downright fun production without sacrificing the personal feel that is coveted by those who use Little Theater.

Not only was the ensemble impressive as a whole, but individual actors also showcased mastery of the Shakespearian language and themes.  Standouts like Josh Silver ’11 (Berowne), Ellie Philips ’12 (Princess of France), and Sam Skove ‘12 (Costard) had such a firm grasp on the written words that they were able to convey contemporary subtext that Shakespeare probably couldn’t have imagined existing (as they didn’t have hipsters back then).

Photo by Samantha Abrams, from Oberlin Theater & Dance

The rest of the cast’s light spirit and concrete sense of comic timing (Samantha Bergman ’13, who played a witty and devious Moth, comes to mind) came together to create a modern production that proves how timeless Shakespeare’s writing is.

Although I loved the entire performance, I have to admit that my absolute favorite moment in the play was when Mora Harris ’12 (Dull) improvised several vocal fanfares in the final scene of the play.  Her portrayal of a dopey Dull had the audience falling in love with her; but she sealed the deal when she began screaming a fully orchestrated fanfare with trumpets, drums, symbols, and I’m sure other instruments we couldn’t hear over laughter.

Second semester’s theater lineup has begun with good laughs and great performances.  It’s a shame that this production was put up on a weekend when most students were still in transit back to campus after Winter Term.  Love’s Labour’s Lost’s smaller-than-usual audiences should feel privileged that they had the opportunity to see such a grand production.

By Sasha Schechter

Putnam County exploded into Wilder Main this weekend during OMTA’s production of The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, directed by Drew Dickler ’12.

Continue reading →

By Sasha Schechter

Wilder Main was the home to And Then There Were None, based off of the Agatha Christie novel, Ten Little Indians, produced by the Oberlin Student Theater Association and directed by Patrick Webster ‘12.

Continue reading →

By Sasha Schechter

This semester’s opera, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte, took over Hall Auditorium with gusto.

Continue reading →