by: William Penne
This past weekend, Oct. 26 and 27, the Parkland Second Stage Theatre got a little more mysterious.
Dear Brutus, the first production in the new Actors’ Studio Series, was performed at the Second Stage Theatre at Parkland College.
The play marked the beginning of the new Actors’ Studio Series at Parkland College. The new series features productions that star and are produced by Parkland faculty and students.
The productions during the normal season star, are directed and produced by a combination of Parkland students, staff, and community members. However, with the new Actors’ Studio Series, the focus will be on the in-house talent at Parkland.
The performance excelled, with multiple layers developed for each character, and the set was kept simply designed so as not to distract from the performances of the actors. This was good – each actor had a complex character to portray, and the performances were done beautifully. The actors were able to show the conflicting desires that each character had while still being able to return to the real world at the end of the play where they come back changed from their experiences in the mysterious disappearing woods on a midsummers’ eve.
To get some insight into the play and the new production series, I was able to talk to B.J. Gailey, part- time theatre instructor here at Parkland and director of the play. While the actors were too busy with the production to be able to sit with me, I was able to gather feedback about their inspiration behind their direction of the play.
Gailey had this to say about the Actors’ Studio Series, which was made possible by the Parkland IDEAS grant, “The Actors’ Studio Series is a series of productions meant to showcase the talents of Parkland students. It is meant to give students another production opportunity and another chance to build their skills. In the main season, students often audition and get cast, but they share opportunities with community members. This series ONLY uses students, and not just theatre students- any parkland student can come out and be a part of it.”
Speaking about why they chose this script to perform, Gailey said, “It’s a very odd script but it’s beautiful with surprising depth. It also provides lots of challenging roles for performers.”
“We did a bit of modernizing, but mostly my inspiration was to make it shorter and to keep the direction simple so we could focus on the character relationships”
The play, written by J.M. Barrie in 1917, author of Peter Pan, was originally a three-act performance. However, Gailey knew they wanted to shorten the play for this performance, and at just over 40 minutes long, Gailey was able to do just that. The play has been likened to an adult Peter Pan, taking place in a type of “Neverland.” In the form of a mysterious forest that pops up only on a Midsummers’ Eve, that characters traverse the setting of the play and live an alternative life to the estranged ones they find themselves in now.
“We did a bit of modernizing, but mostly my inspiration was to make it shorter and to keep the direction simple so we could focus on the character relationships,” Gailey said of their direction of the show. Considering how much was cut from the play, this was done well. The actors were able to convey a lot even with the play being condensed.
To keep up to date on news regarding the Actors’ Studio Series, or other Parkland Theatre productions, pass by the theatres in the C–Wing, or check out the flyers that are hanging around the college, which include performance dates of the current shows and audition dates regarding future shows.
