Muleskinner

Issue date: 2/15/07 Section: Features

concern - (L-R) Kevin Fox, Jamie Veltre and Peter Macy run through their roles in the theatre department's latest production "Recent Tragic Events." The play's setting is the day after Sept. 11, 2001.

The theatre department is presenting Recent Tragic Events through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Highlander Theatre.
The story, which takes place Sept. 12, 2001, is not what audience members might expect.

"Nine-11 tends to scare people, but this is not a heavy drama," said Jennifer Barron, junior bachelor of science in education art major. "It's pretty well-balanced with comedy and some drama."

The production has been in rehearsals since Jan. 10, but it started much earlier for some.

"The artistic staff [director, light/set/costume designers, etc.] has been in planning stages since November," said Jeff Peltz, technical director.

There are many aspects involved in producing a show which are often overlooked by audience members. One of those is the properties master. This person is in charge of finding everything used throughout the play. This includes furniture, books, pencils and anything else the script calls for. For this show, the props master is David Shewell, junior BSE theater major.

"Sometimes it's easy to get a hold of props," Shewell said. "We have a lot in storage we can use over and over again."

However, sometimes the props can cause some problems. This play is set in Minneapolis, and the characters are supposed to be eating pizza from a place called Carboni's. Since it is not a chain restaurant, Shewell called them and asked for pizza boxes to be sent in order to stay true to the script.

"It took a few calls and reminders, but it worked out," Shewell said. "It helps make it more realistic."

Another position not to be overlooked is the assistant director. Zach Thonen, junior technical theater major, looks at this as a valuable learning experience.

"I'm basically learning to be a director by mirroring [professor] Herman," Thonen said. "Sometimes I give notes at the end of rehearsal, or work on other smaller units of the play such as running lines with a character."

In researching this play, Thonen had trouble finding past productions of it.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools