Theater production of contemporary play set to premiere April 4<\/p>\n
Facing life\u2019s challenge and learning to cope with them are the central themes of Craig Lucas\u2019 1983 play \u201cReckless,\u201d which is set to run at the SJCC Theater from April 4 to 6.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of humor,\u201d said actor Chad Stewart, 26, creative writing major, \u201cbut it\u2019s very dark.\u201d<\/p>\n
Actress Casey Jane Satterlund, 24, art education major, said she enjoyed the play because of the abundance of varied roles and personalities, making it \u201ca great character study.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of about what each individual character is hiding,\u201d Satterlund said, \u201cand how each character deals with the traumatic experiences they\u2019ve had.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stewart said the title of the play hints at the central theme, \u201cthe recklessness of humans \u2026 and how people cope with those (reckless) decisions.”<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty surreal play,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cIt\u2019s one of those things where you\u2019re not sure if it\u2019s a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stewart said Dennis Sloan, professor of theater arts, was a big help in preparing for the play, providing exercises through the theater production class coursework.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of it is keeping a journal, character analysis, that kind of stuff,\u201d Stewart said.<\/p>\n
Sloan said he provided students with exercises focusing on different aspects of their acting, from the emotional and psychological to the physical and vocal.<\/p>\n
The exercises have a wide range of functions. Some are for expanding the range of an actor\u2019s pitch, others are breathing exercises to ensure one\u2019s voice does not get damaged, while others are tongue twisters meant to improve enunciation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty exhausting, I scream a lot,\u201d Satterlund said. \u201cEven when I\u2019m not screaming I\u2019m talking in a pitch that\u2019s not natural for me, so it\u2019s kind of demanding in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Satterlund said she did not mind the amount of work and was having a lot of fun with the cast, which includes 10 student actors and six students who are focused on the technical side of things, such as the set and lighting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are 22 roles,\u201d Sloan said. \u201cIt can be performed by as few as seven actors or as many as 22, so it gives us some flexibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Admission to the play is free with a donation of canned food, which will go to the Second Harvest Food Bank.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is also an idea in the play that you can, in many ways, create a family,\u201d Sloan said.<\/p>\n
Sloan said the characters in the play lose their families in one way or another, but still end up finding and becoming a support system for each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a subject matter that I think appeals to students because it is contemporary,\u201d Sloan said. \u201cIt was written in the 80s, but I think the themes are pretty universal.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Theater production of contemporary play set to premiere April 4 Facing life\u2019s challenge and learning to cope with them are the central themes of Craig Lucas\u2019 1983 play \u201cReckless,\u201d which is set to run at the SJCC Theater from April 4 to 6. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of humor,\u201d said actor Chad Stewart, 26, creative writing…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":88908,"featured_media":9460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[],"staff_name":[627],"class_list":["post-9393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-campus-life","staff_name-sonia-waraich"],"yoast_head":"\n