The Channels

Issue date: 11/4/09 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: James Sinclair Theatre arts student James Stenger practices lines outside of the rehearsal room for his role in 'The Owl and the Pussycat.' He is one of 24 actors in this latest production.

Making the best of a small space, the theatre department continues its trend of smaller productions using unusual techniques.

Tonight will be the final performance of "Count the Ways," led by director Katie Laris. The 85-minute production is made up of short scenes from 28 productions. Productions have also taken on a modern interpretation in terms of costumes and theme.

"It's a real variety of scenes," Laris said. This time there aren't any extravagant costumes and there is just an accompanying piano. Working in one of the temporary theatre portables has put limitations on any kind of set designed specifically for for this production.

"We've been preparing for this for about a month," theatre arts student Grace Kaiser, 17, said. She will appear in "Parallel Lives."

Theatre department chair Rick Mokler said he's proud to have this type of showcase at the college. He also said there's an underlying theme to the production. The various perspectives on love have been tied together, "to create a collage effect," he said. "It will be lots of fun."

The techniques and structure used in "Count the Ways" have been devised from theater workshops and are more easily adapted to be flexible in tight spaces and productions with low budgets or fewer actors.

Performances at tonight's show will include "The Taming of the Shrew," "The Owl and the Pussycat," "Closer," "The Rainmaker," "The Big Funk" and "The Talking Dog."

The performance is at 7 p.m. tonight in WC302. Some of the scenes contain mature language.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools