"Our Town" 75th anniversary performance comes to Randolph College

Randolph College will mark the 75th anniversary of Our Town with two weekends of performances of Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play.

Emily Sirney ’15 performs the role of the stage manager in a recent Our Town rehearsal.

First produced in 1938, Our Town tells the story of everyday life in Grover’s Corners, a fictional small town in New Hampshire. Performed on a sparse set where actors pantomime many of their actions, it focuses on the everyday life of the town’s residents. However, it has a much deeper meaning.

“It’s not just a play about a sleepy little town where people fall in love and die,” said Brooke Edwards, a Randolph theatre professor and director of the play. “It’s about the eternal nature of human beings. It is about quality of life and what is the important part of life.

“There is beauty and art to be found in everyday living, but do we take time to appreciate that? We don’t,” Edwards added. “Everything is so fast, we just miss it all. I think the world is revisiting this play because it really hits on that.”

Edwards chose to produce Our Town because, in addition to having an anniversary this year, it also has become a standard “rite of passage” for those working in theatre. Performed on a sparse set—Randolph’s production will use only four chairs and a ghost light—it challenges actors to grow and invites audiences to use their imaginations to explore the world of Grover’s Corners.

The cast includes 15 people, including Randolph students and members of the Lynchburg community. “Everyone has been cast and put into a position where they are going to feel the best about their ability and feel the best about what they are doing,” Edwards said.

Our Town will be performed at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 4, 5, 6, 11, and 12 in the lab theatre, room 203 in the Leggett Building. General admission is $10, $8 for the Randolph community and for adults over 60, $5 for all students. Visit www.LynchburgTickets.com for tickets and information.

Randolph brings classic Chekov play to Lynchburg stage

Despite the fact that Anton Chekov ranks as one of the most important playwrights in history, it has been years since a Lynchburg stage showed his work. WildCat Theatre will change that this weekend as Randolph students and faculty perform Chekov’s Uncle Vanya.

The performance will unlock the comedic aspects and humanity of the play, making it accessible to a modern audience. “There are a lot of bad Chekov productions out there, but our actors are doing well,” said director Mace Archer. “The acting will be far more sophisticated than people have seen before.”

Uncle Vanya

by Anton Chekov

Presented by Randolph College
Thoresen Theatre, Randolph College
Nov. 15–19, 7:30 p.m.

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Uncle Vanya tells the story of a Russian family and the staff that cares for the family’s rural estate as one family member proposes to sell the property. “It is more or less a familial squabble about what's going to happen to the family estate,” Archer said. “Some want to continue this way of life that they’ve known forever, and others are willing to sell it all off and start afresh.” It represents Russia’s change from a rural society to a more modern society during Chekov’s time.

Internationally-known theatre designer Marina Raytchinova designed the
set for Uncle Vanya and has been helping students build the set this week.

The story also includes interwoven and conflicting love stories. “Everybody in this house is in love with everybody else, but nobody can be with who they want to be with,” Archer said. “The thing that makes it fun is all the interpersonal dynamics in the house.”

The play features a set designed by Bulgarian designer Marina Raytchinova who, before this play, had designed every Chekov play other than Uncle Vanya. Although most Chekov productions have “hyper-realistic” sets depicting the details of Russian architecture, Raytchinova opted for a more simple setting that will allow the audience to focus more on the characters and the story. That will make the play more enjoyable for the audience, Archer said. “The way it will be staged will be different than anyone else would do it.”

The performance also will draw on the humorous subtexts and events in the play, which are often dropped. “Chekov always said that his plays were comedies. But when they’re produced, they don’t seem very funny,” Archer said. “I think ours will be highly entertaining. Some very funny things will happen.”

Archer decided to bring Uncle Vanya to the Thoresen Theatre stage because Chekov’s plays are classics— second only to Shakespeare in Archer’s opinion. The plays are not produced often because of a perception that they are thematically heavy: the characters are driven by a subtext, they don’t always say what they mean, and an audience can get lost unless the actors capture those nuances. But the Randolph cast is proving it can make Chekov interesting and enjoyable. “It’s been fun to watch the students really begin to understand how Chekov works and how deep they need to go to make the characters seem believable and real,” Archer said.

Cast Announced for Fall Production of "Reckless"

Mace Archer, new assistant professor of theatre, has hit the ground running as he directs WildCat Theatre's fall production of Craig Lucas' "Reckless".

This dark comedy has been described as "one of the wildest theatrical rides your likely to take, full of twists and turns, reversals and obstacles, and finally, pathos and discovery. Christmas will never be the same."

Congratulations to the following students who have been cast in the production.

• Rachel -- Christine Gnieski '13


• Tom – T.J. Story '13


• Lloyd – Matthew Cornpropst '14


• Pooty – Marian Van Noppen '12


• Roy – Chad Ramey '13


• Trish – Kate Allen '11


• Doctor 1-5 – Rebekah Baumgartner '12


• Doctor 6 – Emily Perry '12


• Tim Timko – Chad Ramey '13


• TV Reporter – Khanh Hong '14


• Talk Show Host – Nia King '14


• Sue – Kate Allen '11


• Man in Ski Mask -- Chad Ramey '13


• Woman Patient – Khanh Hong '14


• Receptionist – Nia King '14


• Tom Jr. – T.J. Story '13

Performances will take place October 29-31 and November 4-6, 2010.

Learn more at the WildCat Theatre site...