UA students devising piece for theatre festival based on reactions to social issues
Six students from The University of Akron Theatre Program are spending part of their holiday break from classes developing a new performance for the Devised Theatre Project at the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival (KC/ACTF) regional festival at Cleveland State University, Jan. 2-6.
James Slowiak
Under the guidance of UA Theatre Professor James Slowiak, the students are working from an array of sources — poetry, current events, songs, myths and personal experience — to devise a 20-minute performance that communicates their response to this year’s project prompt: “Sometimes it’s easier to hear if we whisper.”
The UA students will present an open rehearsal of their work on Wednesday, Dec. 31, at 3 p.m., at The Balch Street Theatre, 220 South Balch St., Akron. Admission is free and open to the public.
Varied experiences inform piece
The students’ reactions to social issues such as injustice, racism and the stigma of mental illness have informed the creation of the devised piece. So has the collaborative process of devising new performance work based on nontraditional sources and ensemble techniques — which has become a key part of the UA Theatre Program.
“Several themes emerged almost immediately from the students’ work. The deaths of African-American men in Ferguson, Staten Island and Cleveland and the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses were very much on everyone’s mind when we started,” observed Slowiak, who is acting as the group’s outside eye.
“The students seemed opposed to the naïve idea of 'whispering' as a solely positive force," said Slowiak. "Instead, they've determined that sometimes you need to shout to be heard, and so are approaching this performance like a ring shout, the oldest form of African-American performance often used to heal the community."
Festival promises rich experience
UA students David Cranston, Lauren Fowkes, Tyson Sebree, Nick Shows, James Turk and Kirsten Williams will attend the five-day festival in Cleveland. They will participate in workshops, attend performances and meet other theatre students from around the region, which includes Ohio, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Northwest New York, Pennsylvania, Northern Virginia, Washington D.C., and West Virginia.
Two other UA theatre students, Alyssa Whiddon and Jeremy Winter, have been nominated for the prestigious Irene Ryan Scholarship for their performances in the UA Theatre Program’s fall main stage production of “Godspell.” Brian Keith, a communication major and theatre minor, is nominated as an alternate for this audition competition. The production of “Godspell,” directed by adjunct instructor Aubrey Caldwell, also received certificates of meritorious achievement from KC/ACTF for excellence in Ensemble Acting and excellence in costuming by UA staff costumer Mark Snyder Shulte.
Media contact: Cyndee Snider 330-972-5196 or cyndee@uakron.edu.