Spring semester Theatre SCE productions

By MacKenzie Brady

Student Life Editor

Two senior theatre majors will be producing their Senior Capstone Experiences this semester. This semesters SCEs are “The Effect” and “Antigone.”

“The Effect,” written by Lucy Prebble, is a performance thesis from Lexy Ricketts. It will be showing in Tawes Theatre on March 27 and 28 at 7:30 p.m. There will be a talk back after Friday night’s performance. 

According to the Theatre Department’s page on the Washington College website, “The Effect” is “filled with ups and downs, celebrations and side effects both patients and doctors strive to understand not just what they feel but why they feel it.”

“I wanted to do a play that showed mental illness without vilifying it,” Ricketts said, explaining that the show breaks stigmas surrounding mental illness, including the notion that someone has to have their life completely put together in order to help someone else.

Because of the difficult themes of the play, Ricketts, director Erin Coffman class of 2017, and stage manager, senior Cassy Sottile will be working together to make sure everyone involved in the production is comfortable. They will also be working with dramaturg, senior Regina Bothwell from the psychology department to ensure all medical terminology and statistics used are accurate. 

“I want to be in the direct line of showing the audience what mental illness looks like that’s not scary,” Ricketts said of her choice to do a performance thesis. She explained, that by playing one of the doctors, she would be able to see what it’s like to keep that professionalism while dealing with that character’s own medical journey. 

“I’m excited for people to take away that no mental illness takes away your humanity,” she said, explaining that we are all human in the end. 

“Antigone,” written by Jean Anouilh and translated by Christopher Nixon, is a performance thesis from Chris Hanna. It will be showing in Tawes Theatre on April 3 and 4 at 7:30 p.m.

“I was first drawn to ‘Antigone’ after reading the Greek original for my Drama, Stage, & Society class,” Hanna said. “I was captivated by the dichotomy between Antigone and Creon, two characters that in some ways feel like polar opposites, but share a key similarity: believing themselves to know what’s best for both themselves and the other person, while being fully convinced the other person is in the wrong.” 

Hanna said he is most looking forward to the collaborative process of the production. “We’ve already put together an incredible design team with a solid mix of veterans. I’m very excited to expand my craft with the aid of so many wonderful and unique voices.”

“I chose to do a performing thesis because acting is my passion,” Hanna said. “It’s what I plan to do for my career and I wanted to use my Senior Capstone to expand my ability in doing what I love and what I plan on making a living off of, rather than something I know how to do, but am not necessarily planning on doing as my life’s work.” 

Hanna is most excited for the audience to see that “Antigone” is not a traditional classic drama. “People hear the name ‘Antigone’ and get this vision of Grecian columns and self-important ancients, which is about the farthest thing from our show as you can get. It’s a story that is very much powerful and relevant to our current time,” he said. 

To kick off the play season, Professor of Drama and Director of the Daniel Z. Gibson Center for the Arts Dale Daigle, and senior Jackie Dulaff will be co-directing “8 x 10.” “8 x 10” will be showing in Tawes Theatre from Feb 13 to 15 at 7:30 p.m. 

According to the Theatre Department page on the WC website, “8 x 10” will be “an evening of short plays to celebrate Valentine’s Day.”