Emma Gross ’15 reviews “Sundanese & Javanese Puppet Plays”

Emma Gross ’15 reviews the “Sundanese & Javanese Puppet Plays,” performed on Saturday, April 27, 2013 at 8pm in World Music Hall as part of the Indonesian Performing Arts & Public Life Symposium, as well as “Music & Public Life,” a year-long campus and community-wide exploration, celebrating and studying the sounds, words, and spirit of music at the local, national, and transnational levels through concerts, workshops, gatherings, and courses, all designed to cross disciplines.

Sundanese wayang golek puppets.
Sundanese wayang golek puppets.

Gongs, xylophones, flutes, and drums of the Wesleyan Gamelan Ensemble sounded throughout the World Music Hall on Saturday April 27. As this traditional Indonesian orchestra played, spectators flocked to the building’s windows to get a better look at the show. A packed audience sat within the hall, enraptured by the performers—only one of whom was human.

The play was an Indonesian “wayang,” or puppet play. The event I attended Saturday night was the final installment of the Indonesian Performing Arts & Public Life Symposium. This celebration of Indonesian theater ran Thursday, April 25 to Saturday, April 27. It included speakers, performances, and demonstrations related to wayang, including a talk by guest puppeteer Kathy Foley, Professor of Southeast Asian Drama and Dance at the University of California Santa Cruz; Sarah Weiss, Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology at Yale University; Ronald Jenkins, Wesleyan University Professor of Theater; and Javanese musician, scholar, and Wesleyan University Professor of Music Sumarsam.

Saturday’s sold-out wayang featured two types of Indonesian puppet play: Sundanese “wayang golek” and Javanese “wayang kulit.” The Wesleyan Gamelan Ensemble, under the direction of Artist in Residence I.M. Harjito, provided the score for both acts.

The first segment showcased wayang golek, wooden doll puppets. Wayang golek are about a foot tall, and are operated by rods attached to the figures’ hands and running through their bodies. Each doll is embellished with intricate and elaborate costumes. Every puppet that performed in the show was clothed in vibrant colors and patterns; their bodies were detailed in gold, and their heads were carved with obvious care and precision into faces that could carry a range of emotional expression.

This spectacular ensemble of Sundanese figures performed a story from the “Babad Lokapala” cycle—the “prequel” to the “Ramayana,” describing how the demons and monkeys came to be. The audience sat cross-legged in the World Music Hall and watched, riveted, as the tale unfolded. This absolute viewer engagement speaks to the skill of the “dhalang,” or puppet master, Kathy Foley.

Ms. Foley was the sole puppeteer orchestrating the Sundanese “wayang golek.” She assumed the role of narrator, as well as the voice of every character. Ms. Foley endowed each puppet with distinctive mannerisms, gait, and speaking patterns. The entity and precise characteristics she brought to each figure succeeded in transporting the audience into the world at the front of the stage.

According to Ms. Foley, there are three character types in wayang golek: characters associated with adolescence, middle age, and as Ms. Foley describes, a final type that “represents our face as we approach our moment of death. They’re that part of us that screams, causes trouble, does everything else that’s sort of wild, and that we would love to forget.”

Together, these three character types performed a clever, engaging, moralistic, and comedic story. Ms. Foley maintained audience engagement not only through her adept puppet movement, voice inflection and facial expression, but also through her integration of humor into the narrative. At one point in the story, Ms. Foley remarked, “the monkeys, they sleep all day and stay up all night—just like Wesleyan students.”

At the end of the wayang golek act, audience members were treated to the Indonesian delicacy “lemper,” a dish made of glutinous rice filled with chicken. The lemper was homemade by a Middletown resident of Indonesian background, and distributed by Wesleyan students from Indonesia.

“The lemper was a delicious surprise,” remarked audience member Molly Steinfeld ‘15. “The evening was filled with introductions to various elements of Indonesian art and culture; the lemper added a tasty layer to this exploration.”

The second half of the show was dedicated to Javanese “wayang kulit,” or shadow puppets. “Kulit,” meaning skin, refers to the leather construction of the puppets. Each figure is carefully chiseled with fine tools and supported with carefully shaped buffalo horn handles and control rods. The shadows are cast on a cotton screen, and at Saturday’s performance, audience members were given the option of sitting on the viewing side of the puppets or the shadow side.

The dhalang for the second act was Wesleyan’s own Sumarsam, who told a story from the epic “Mahabharata.” The narrative involved a demon king, a guru in disguise, and a heavenly nymph. The plot, laden with desire, curses, comedy and confusion, was equally as enthralling as the Sundanese performance.

“The pace of a Javanese play is a lot more subdued than that of a Sundanese one,” explained Rizky Rahadianto ’15, a West Java native.

Mr. Rahadianto points to a key difference between the two acts. While the Sundanese puppets were constantly and vigorously moving—their gestures and dances were overstated and their voices were caricatures of the figures they portrayed—the Javanese figures were mostly stagnant; the incantation of their dialogue was slower, and the overall tone of the narrative felt calmer than that of the Sundanese.

Due to the more relaxed nature of wayang kulit and the viewer’s visual obstruction (caused by the cotton screen) from the characters, the audience’s engagement with the story is largely dependent on the expression of the dhalang.

“Sumarsam is an incredibly skilled dhalang,” commented Mr. Rahadianto. “His puppet movement and expression is perfectly executed. Sumarsam’s dialogue maintained the calm incantation of the Javanese wayang, but incorporated sharp social commentary and political humor, keeping viewers on their toes.”

Mr. Rahadianto was one of about ten Indonesian students in the audience at the performance Saturday night. “The last time I saw wayang was when I was in elementary school,” Mr. Rahadianto said. “Groups would come perform when we were younger, but never in middle or high school. This event allowed me to revisit part of my childhood. It was extremely nostalgic.”

Mr. Rahadianto explained that while wayang was popular when he was growing up, due to the influx of western television programming in Indonesian cities, there is less demand from young children today for puppet material. However, wayang continues to remain popular in more rural regions of Indonesia.

“I’m thrilled that Wesleyan made this opportunity available to its students and to the Middletown community,” said Mr. Rahadianto. “It’s a way to share and preserve Indonesian culture.”

Emma Gross ’15 discusses Precision Dance Ensemble with Lindsay Kosasa ¹13 and Cynthia Tong ¹14

Emma Gross ’15 talks to Lindsay Kosasa ’13 and Cynthia Tong ’14 about Precision Dance Ensemble, who performed “Can’t Get Enough” on March 29 & 30, 2013.

At Wesleyan, April marks the beginning of warm, Foss-sitting weather, community events such as Wesfest and Zonker Harris Day, and the bittersweet final weeks of the academic year.

April is also, however, a month that celebrates dance at Wesleyan. In the upcoming weeks, students from all dance backgrounds, with all levels of experience will showcase their talent and creative expression through movement.

Precision Dance Ensemble kicked off this month’s performances with their 19th annual showcase, “Can’t Get Enough,” which ran March 29-30, 2013. Both shows on Friday were packed, and Saturday’s performance sold out completely. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has previously attended a Precision showcase.

Precision Dance Ensemble is a subset of Precision Dance Company, a collective comprised of the aforementioned Ensemble, which performs contemporary dance; and Precision Dance Troupe, which performs hip-hop.

“Can’t Get Enough” was sponsored by Second Stage, and held in the Patricelli ’92 Theater. The showcase was comprised of eight dances, each of which was choreographed and performed by members of Precision. The group currently consists of seventeen women from all grades, two of whom are abroad for the semester. While the members are from a range of academic backgrounds, and only five are dance majors, the women share an adeptness for dance and a passion for Movement.

“Precision holds auditions in the fall, which are open to the entire community,” explained Precision Ensemble Director Lindsay Kosasa ’13. “Though our group is currently all-female, we have had male members of the company in the past. The company prides itself on the quality of its performances, so throughout auditions we look for individuals with technical skill, who can quickly pick up choreography, and who are excited about dance.”

Precision is the only student dance group that performs in a formal space, such as the Patricelli ’92 Theater. Ms. Kosasa noted that the strength of the Ensemble’s showcase is dependent on the camaraderie, trust, and collaborative dynamics of the group.

“Following auditions, once our group has been assembled, we meet throughout the fall to bond as a dance company,” Ms. Kosasa explained. “In order to present the strongest spring showcase we can, it is crucial that we are comfortable working and dancing together.”

The ensemble begins technical preparation for its performance at the start of the second semester. Individuals from within the Ensemble volunteer to choreograph dances, and other Precision members preference the pieces in which they would like to perform. Ms. Kosasa, along with Cynthia Tong ’14, the Liaison Director of Precision Dance Company (meaning she dances in and oversees both the Troupe and the Ensemble,) decide which members will participate in which dances.

Once the pieces are set, rehearsals begin.  Halfway through the semester, the Ensemble meets as a whole, so dancers may showcase the progress of their pieces and give feedback on each other’s work.

“This informal performance allows the entire group to collaborate and make creative suggestions for the dancers and choreographers,” explained Ms. Tong.

Ms. Tong and Ms. Kosasa were two of the eight dancers who choreographed pieces for this year’s performance.  Regarding the process of developing a dance, Ms. Kosasa explained, “I usually take inspiration from the song I have chosen for the piece. This year, my song changed four or five times. As a result, I spent a significant amount of time in the studio choreographing the movements. It certainly speaks to the skill of the dancers I worked with that they were able to learn, re-learn, and polish a piece in only three or four rehearsals.”

Ms. Tong approached the creation of her dance in a different way. “My piece centered on the theme of vulnerability and exposure,” she explained. “I focused the choreography around three body parts: the neck, the under belly, and the wrists. The piece also incorporated movement with chairs, which I had never done before. The relationships I developed with my dancers granted me a certain amount of freedom as a choreographer. Their trust allowed me to explore alternative dance movements.”

Ms. Tong emphasized the inherent learning experience in putting on a dance show, not only in choreographing and rehearsing a number, but also in creating a performance poster, designing a lighting scheme, and preparing the theater space.

Though Ms. Kosasa and Ms. Tong expressed that the weeks leading up to “Can’t Get Enough” were fairly nerve-wracking, both were pleased with show’s outcome. Audience members shared this sentiment; following Friday night’s 7pm and 9pm performances, tickets for Saturday’s show sold out by the early Afternoon.

“We’re lucky to have an extremely supportive following,” Ms. Kosasa said. “This is partially due to the expansion Wesleyan’s dance community has seen in the past few years.”

There are currently more than ten student dance organizations on campus. From Prometheus, a group specializing in fire art and manipulation; to Terpsichore, a dance collective whose performances seek to include as many students as possible, regardless of previous Experience; dance at Wesleyan is accessible to all interested students.

“Everyone in Precision is in another dance group, a dance class, or working on another dance related project,” said Ms. Tong. “This interconnected, collaborative, and inclusive dance community makes for extremely supportive audiences.”

Ms. Kosasa elaborated, “What I’ve learned from exposure to dance at Wesleyan is that anyone can, and everyone should, dance. I’ve talked to so many graduates who regret that they never participated in any dance on campus. Wesleyan’s dance culture is fascinating because its community is composed of many individuals who are not classically trained, and who do not come from a traditional dance background. As a result, performances showcase new and exciting movement that challenges the definition and purpose of dance, pushing our community to heighten its creativity and stretch its understanding of this medium.”

Emma Gross ’15 reviews “The Kindness of Strangers” by Emily Hunt ’13

Approximately three minutes into Emily Hunt’s opening night performance of her thesis production, “The Kindness of Strangers,” someone’s cellphone went off.

The audience of 23 viewers, myself included, collectively cringed. Ms. Hunt continued with Blanche Dubois’ monologue from A Streetcar Named Desire for a few seconds longer, before breaking character and pleading with the audience to silence all cellphones. Yet the ringing continued. Our intimate, circular seating formation allowed everyone to stare, horrified, around the audience, searching for the culprit responsible for this painful interruption.

The ringing went on. Discomfort was heightened by Ms. Hunt’s noticeably hurt facial expression. Suddenly, she stood up, now completely out of character from the swooning, inebriated Blanche, and walked over to the onstage bed, one of the few components of the minimal set. Ms. Hunt pulled back the comforter, and there, lying on the mattress, was her own phone—lit up and sounding throughout the theater.

Ms. Hunt answered the call. She spoke in a quiet voice to the person on the other end, before hanging up, apologizing to the audience, and attempting to restart the monologue. After uttering the first line, however, Ms. Hunt meekly asked for the house lights to be turned on. She thanked everyone for coming, but explained that she didn’t think she could perform that evening.

Never have I sat in a theater with a greater feeling of shock, confusion, and horror. I fully felt Ms. Hunt’s embarrassment and shame as she wrung her hands, averted her eyes, and attempted to cool her flushed cheeks.

The extreme emotional reaction Ms. Hunt succeeded in evoking in her audience during the first five minutes of “The Kindness of Strangers” speaks to her adept understanding of what triggers various psychological conditions, in this case, distress and discomfort. Combined with her accomplished acting abilities, Ms. Hunt achieved immediate visceral engagement in her performance, an investment she maintained throughout the remaining production.

Ms. Hunt, who wrote, directed, and was the sole performer in “The Kindness of Strangers,” aimed to utilize this unconventional theatrical format to allow her audience an understanding of the challenges of preparing an acting role. Ms. Hunt, who is a Theater and Psychology double major, aimed to convey that the process of embodying a fictional character requires a deep understanding of human psychology.

Her performance continued: Ms. Hunt explained that the call she had received onstage was from a theater company with whom she had auditioned for the role of Blanche. Ms. Hunt had not been cast in the play; the company’s creative team expressed that they did not believe in her portrayal of the character. Ms. Hunt admitted that she had little in common with Blanche, from the character’s experiences and background, to her time period and ethnicity.

In the remainder of “The Kindness of Strangers,” Ms. Hunt explored the following questions: How does one step in and out of a performance without feeling guilty of deceiving an audience and oneself? How can one commit acts that one would never commit in real life on a stage?

Ms. Hunt demonstrated the challenge and complexity of these questions by first identifying surface level emotions in Blanche’s words. She noted “fear” and “sadness,” then asked the audience to show her what these expressions look like.  Various individuals contorted their faces to convey these emotions, and again, we were encouraged to turn our attention away from Ms. Hunt and towards each other, just as we had when the cellphone went off.

Ms. Hunt observed individuals’ interpretations of these emotions and wrote down the physical characteristics they displayed. “Sad,” looked like a downturned mouth and half-closed eyes.  “Fearful” took the form of wide eyes, and a tight, dropped jaw. Ms. Hunt re-attempted Blanche’s monologue, while imitating audience member’s facial expressions. What came of this activity was her realization that to become a character it is not enough to reenact their emotions. To portray a believable role, an actor must understand the psychological roots of their character’s sentiments.

Ms. Hunt connected this assertion to Leon Festinger’s theory of “Cognitive Dissonance.” In the program accompanying “The Kindness of Strangers,” Ms. Hunt wrote, “Cognitive Dissonance describes what we experience when there is ‘an inconsistency among some experiences, beliefs, attitudes, or feelings. According to dissonance theory, this sets up an unpleasant state that people try to reduce by reinterpreting some part of their experiences to make them consistent with others.’”

Ms. Hunt drew from Festinger’s theory, combining it with the philosophical and methodological teachings of dramatists Bertolt Brecht and Konstantin Stanislavski, to “reinterpret” Blanche’s role. In order to empathize with the character, Ms. Hunt recalled stories from her own life, which evoked in her the same psychological conditions and emotions she had identified in Blanche’s monologue.

“The Kindness of Strangers” alternated between Ms. Hunt frankly addressing the audience, reading passages from texts on psychological theory, and sharing personal memories. This innovative integration of performance techniques brought Ms. Hunt to a psychological condition in which she could understand Blanche’s character, and the audience to a psychological condition in which we could appreciate her gradual and successful transition into the role. By the end of the production, Ms. Hunt had fully slipped into Blanche’s character. She ended the performance with a flawless, deeply emotional and believable recitation of the remaining portion of her monologue. This time, there were no cellphone interruptions.

“The Kindness of Strangers” ran Thursday, February 28 through Saturday March 2, 2013 in the Patricelli ’92 Theater. The performances were in partial fulfillment of Ms. Hunt’s Honors Thesis in Theater.

Emma Gross ’15 previews Rinde Eckert’s “The Last Days of the Old Wild Boy” (Nov. 15-17)

Emma Gross ’15 attended a rehearsal for the upcoming production of Rinde Eckert’s “The Last Days of the Old Wild Boy,” which will run Thursday, November 15 through Friday, November 17, 2012. Performances will be held in the CFA Theater at 8pm Thursday through Saturday, plus a 2pm matinee on Saturday.

Photo by Emma Gross ’15.

In the week leading up to Halloween, I accompanied Sivan Battat ’15 to her evening rehearsal for Visiting Artist in Theater and Creative Campus Fellow Rinde Eckert’s production of “The Last Days of the Old Wild Boy.” Rehearsal was scheduled to run from 7pm to 11pm. When I asked how often these four-hour rehearsals were held, Sivan replied, “Just six days a week. But with opening night approaching, I assume Saturday hours will be added as well.”

I began calculating the amount of time Sivan had spent in the CFA Theater since preparation for the play began in early September and how many more hours she would devote to the production in the remaining three and a half weeks before the performance. Though I was slightly overwhelmed by this work schedule, it was Sivan’s next comment that thoroughly shocked me: “And we have yet to see a finished script for the play.”

Thus was my initiation into the unconventional creative process of director Rinde Eckert.

Mr. Eckert is a Grammy Award-winning writer, composer, librettist, musician, performer and director. He was the finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Drama and in 2009 received The Alpert Award for his contributions to theater. In April 2012, The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation named Mr. Eckert an inaugural Doris Duke Artist.

Photo by Emma Gross ’15.

In Mr. Eckert’s artist statement, he describes his theater projects as “fiercely interdisciplinary.” He explains: “My work occurs on stage with lights and sound, and usually music, and is deeply concerned with language.  Using various theatrical forms to say what I have to say, I am interested more in poetic gestalt than in narrative, though there is usually a central narrative that I treat as a kind of fugue subject or governing metaphor.  I need to feel I’m learning with each new project, and that each work is a piece of a much larger puzzle.  I think I do my best work in an atmosphere of joy and critical thought, in that order. There is such a thing as soul and good theatre elevates it.”

Wesleyan’s Creative Campus Initiative, with support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, commissioned Mr. Eckert to develop “The Last Days of the Old Wild Boy.” The world premiere of this production will take place in the CFA Theater on Thursday November 15. Additional performances will run through Saturday, November 17.

“‘The Last Days of the Old Wild Boy’ is a story grounded in the experience of the wild child, or a man raised by wolves, who is taken and initiated into the human world,” Mr. Eckert explained. “The piece takes us from the moment the boy is found, through the turning point in his life when he goes back to kill the man responsible for his capture. When the wild child meets this man, however, he finds a broken human being. Consequently, his desire to kill evaporates. The wild child is freed from his thirst for revenge, and his life opens up. The piece is about the education of this boy and his journey, as an older man, to recover his original, less conditioned or acculturated self.”

The night I sat in on the rehearsal, I gained insight into Rinde’s progressive, hands-on, and exploratory approach to developing this piece.

As soon as we arrived at the CFA Theater, Sivan and the seven other cast members changed into their costumes. They emerged in black canvas body suits, complete with a hood and a sheer black flap, which concealed their faces. These outfits also included side pockets filled with chalk. As one actor indicated by sketching a few circles onto his sleeve, the surfaces of the costumes, including the face flap, are entirely chalkable.

“The costumes in ‘The Last Days of the Old Wilde Boy’ are identical to encourage equality among cast members,” explained Assistant Director Claire Whitehouse ‘13. “This is an ensemble production, and gender in this play does not determine character.”

Photo by Emma Gross ’15.

The onstage set included a chalk board that ran the length of the stage, two fifteen foot tall paper man marionettes, close to 200 tiny, rectangular, wooden stools, and three bags of peat moss that hung from the overhead beams. According to one cast member these bags, “were relatively new and their potential had yet to be fully explored.”

Mr. Eckert and the cast and crew arranged the wooden stools into a makeshift platform stage. As an opening exercise, Mr. Eckert instructed the actors to read aloud a partial draft of the play’s script. Roles were assigned and the work was performed with everyone seated on the platform.

Following this reading, Mr. Eckert had the cast switch roles, and recite the text again, this time moving around the set. As the actors performed Mr. Eckert’s work they manipulated the onstage scenery, altered their costumes with chalk, and interacted with one another. Some climbed onto the theater balconies and maneuvered the gigantic marionettes, while others crawled on all fours and rearranged the stools to build walls, pyramids, towers, and cages.

“We have spent a lot of time learning how to utilize our costumes and the set,” said Alma Sanchez-Eppler ’14.  “These items’ malleability and impermanence allows us to explore the relationship between our bodies and the physical space and objects around us.”

Ms. Whitehouse noted this unique rehearsal and production process. “Traditional American theater is produced around a pre-made, completed text. In this play, however, action, movement, and activity with costumes and props are as important as the spoken words. Our rehearsals and specifically the way the actors interact with their physical surroundings inform Rinde’s writing.”

Mr. Eckert noted that while “The Last Days of the Old Wild Boy” will be completed and ready for viewers this weekend, following its performance he will continue developing and expanding it as a theater piece.

“Rinde has been great to work with,” said Ms. Sanchez-Eppler. “He allows us to feel comfortable abandoning normal production steps. Rinde’s leadership, dedication, and enthusiasm for his work have brought me to trust in him and his creative process.”

Mr. Eckert’s work at Wesleyan marks his first residency creating a production with solely undergraduates. “The students’ willingness to engage in what can be a frustrating and amorphous process is exceptional,” Rinde said. “They hold a beautiful combination of intelligence and enthusiasm, in addition to a level of sheer bravery. These kids are brave, which is a great thing.”

The show, like its unique production process, is sure to be an unconventional, yet thoroughly engaging and exciting experience. I highly recommend stepping into the world of Rinde Eckert and “The Last Days of the Old Wild Boy” this weekend.

Emma Gross ’15 reviews “Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom”

Emma Gross ’15 reviews “Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom,”  the directorial debut of Emilie Pass ’15 and Gabe Gordon ’15, which ran Thursday October 25 through Saturday, October 27, 2012.

Photo courtesy of Cara Sunberg ’15.

While I have attended plenty of horror movies that caused viewers to gasp out loud, cover their eyes, and grab onto their friends’ wrists, before this past weekend I had never attended a play that managed to evoke this same level of fear. Second Stage’s production of Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom achieved this effect. The play’s ability to induce outward horror from its viewers points to the success of its co-directors, actors, and creative team.

Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom, written by Jennifer Haley, ran Thursday October 25 through Saturday October 27. The play was part of Second Stage’s fall 2012 season. For those not familiar with Second Stage, it is Wesleyan’s student-run, volunteer theater organization. Second Stage produces works that are entirely designed, directed, and performed by students.

“Emilie and I first read Neighborhood 3 in our Intro to Playwriting course freshman year,” Gordon said. “Throughout the semester we studied a lot of great works, but Neighborhood 3 stood out as a special piece of writing. It is not well known, nor is it by a well known writer, but we both fell in love with it.

Neighborhood 3 tells the story of a tightly regulated suburban subdivision in which parents find their teenagers addicted to a violent online video game. As the story unfolds it is revealed that the game is not strictly virtual, but manifests itself in reality with horrific consequences.

“The play is about familial relationships in a world of suburban pain,” Pass said. “Though it contains topical jokes about the internet and video game culture, the text is also a commentary on the timeless issue of how family members relate to one another. It exposes the nuclear family and its values in a way that shows how this model can be pretty messed up.”

Neighborhood 3 is laced with dark humor and filled with moments of deep suspense and terror; it is the perfect pre-Halloween story. In one scene, the stage goes dark just as a gothic teenage girl aims a fatal blow at her father with a golf club.

“The play is a thoroughly exciting and engaging text,” Gordon said. “When I first read it, I remember visualizing how it could come to life on stage. I thought maybe this meant I should direct it and make that happen.”

In the spring of 2012, Pass and Gordon committed to co-directing Neighborhood 3 and assembled a production team including Paul McCallion ‘15 as stage manager, Cara Sunberg ’15 as set designer, Anders Dohlman ’15 as master carpenter, Rachel Leicher ’15 as lighting designer, Gabe Beaudoin ’15 and Eriq Robinson ’15 as sound designers, and Joe Gonzalez ’15 as costume designer.

Second Stage approved their application before the year’s end, and in early September Eva Ravenal ’15, Mark Popinchalk ’13, Tess Jonas, ’15, and Noah Masur ’15 were cast as the show’s four actors.

“Though Emilie and I had directed a bit in high school, this was really our first significant directorial experience,” said Gordon. “An added challenge was that the majority of our team was not involved in Second Stage and had little to no theater background. The entire process of creating this production was a learning experience for everyone involved.”

Neighborhood 3 was staged in the Patricelli ’92 theater. “The space allowed the play to come to life,” said Pass. “Cara and Anders did a fantastic job making the set as visually engaging as the dialogue on stage.”

Audience members were seated on either side of the stage, which was composed of a series of platform steps outlined with identical cutouts of white houses. As the plot unfolded and suspense increased, the actors gradually migrated up the steps toward the top and final platform.

“Cara collaborated with Rachel, the lighting designer, to create a house shaped projection screen at the head of the theater,” Pass said. Actors posed behind the screen during the robotic, video game style narration between scenes. The characters’ blackened silhouettes added a visual dimension that helped blur the line between reality and virtual gaming world.

“I cannot stress how exceptional our creative team was,” Gordon said. “And in addition, how lucky we were to find such extraordinarily talented actors.”

The four actors faced the challenge of portraying a different character in every scene.  Ravenal, Popinchalk, Jonas and Masur’s ability to alter their body language, speaking voices, and emotions to convincingly assume various roles was remarkable.  To effectively transition from a drunken housewife to a fearful mother, or from a frightened boy whose cat has been murdered to the murderer himself requires smart and skillful acting.

Neighborhood 3 sold out Friday and Saturday night, even after seats were added. The evening I attended the performance people left the theater claiming they were afraid to walk home alone.

“I was extremely pleased with the final product and so proud to be part of the production,” Gordon said. “Putting on Neighborhood 3 was an incredible experience, and goes to show that you don’t need to be a theater person to be involved with theater at Wesleyan. If you are creative and passionate about a project you can make anything happen.”

Pass agreed, “It was an incredibly rewarding learning experience,” she said. “It underscores the notion that some of the best learning at Wesleyan is done outside the classroom.”

Emma Gross ’15 reviews LIEBE LOVE AMOUR!

Emma Gross ’15 reflects on her experiences at Anonymous Ensemble’s Saturday performance of LIEBE LOVE AMOUR!

Here is what I knew prior to experiencing Anonymous Ensemble’s LIEBE LOVE AMOUR! First, that audience participation was an integral part of the production, and second, that the content of LIEBE LOVE AMOUR! might be about love.

What I did not realize was that ninety minutes after taking my seat in the CFA Theater, I would be up on stage participating in the marriage ceremony of a towering 1920’s German cinema star.

LIEBE LOVE AMOUR! is a one act, multimedia spectacular. It is cited as a “theatricalized live film,” a description that does not do justice to the show’s truly novel construction.

On Saturday, September 22, I along with dozens of other students, professors, and non-university associated community members filed into the theater. We took our seats opposite the stark set. A single red curtain ran the length of the stage, with a large movie screen off center, to the right.

When the lights dimmed, a compilation of early black and white, silent 20th century footage played across the screen. This montage culminated in a shot of a woman styled in signature 1920’s clothing, hair and makeup. Suddenly, the actress turned and addressed the audience. She introduced herself as Hilda and explained that she lived in Germany and was about to experience her thirty-third birthday. As Hilda spoke, the previously opaque curtain became transparent. It revealed a figure standing against a green screen performing for a camera set up on a tripod. When the woman onstage gestured, the actress on screen did the same. The words I assumed were prerecorded and emerging from the film world, were in fact spoken live on stage.

What ensued was an epic, hilariously dramatic love story, twisted with bizarre details, cliché moments, and break out musical numbers. This narrative was presented to the audience in a most innovative fashion.

Hilda’s scenes were recorded in front of the green screen and simultaneously projected for the audience. Her live footage was combined with film clips belonging to 20th century Austrian director Erich Von Stroheim. His footage was intercut with Hilda’s dialogue, creating the illusion that she was speaking to and interacting with Stroheim’s actors. Two live, on stage performers dubbed over the silent footage, providing the voiceover for these characters. These two actors also created sound effects using various tools and instruments in the style of an old school radio production.

LIEBE LOVE AMOUR! grants the audience the opportunity to witness the live creation of both an onstage play and a projected film. Our attention continuously alternated from the onstage action, to the film that simultaneously came together on screen.

As if this mode of storytelling was not complicated enough, audience participation added a dimension of unpredictability to the show’s narrative.

While the onstage action and film projection continued, a fourth performer equipped with a microphone, ventured into the audience. He called on individuals to respond to Hilda’s questions, give her advice, and provide story details. This interactive element not only kept the audience on its toes, but also heightened the comedic aspect of the performance. Viewers’ were hysterical as their friends, professors, and relatives were put on the spot to contribute to the show’s ridiculous narrative.

The performers fully took advantage of their power to turn the audience’s vulnerability into entertainment. At one point in the show, a student was brought onstage and told he was to play opposite Hilda in her audition for a movie. The film’s director, played by one of the performers standing along side the green screen, informed Hilda that their scene needed to end in a kiss.

In this moment, everyone around me shifted to the edge of his or her seat. Uncomfortable laughter rang throughout the theater, signaling our nervous excitement about how the scene would unfold.

The finale of the production elevated audience participation to the next level. At the end of the play, the red curtain was drawn, opening up the stage. Hilda suddenly emerged, towering on stilts and professed her love for us, her viewers. She invited everyone up on stage to partake in the marriage ceremony uniting herself and the audience.

Hundreds of seats emptied, and people of all ages gathered on stage. We circled around Hilda, recited vows and then celebrated with festive music, dancing, champagne and wedding cake. It was the most unusual and delicious ending to a theater production I have ever experienced.

Following the show, I was eager to read more about Anonymous Ensemble’s work and manifesto. Their online statement reads, “We are the new generation of Stage and Screen. At the nexus of film and theater, AnEn’s work draws from and then propels itself beyond both genres. AnEn accepts the pervasive power of the Screen in our current times but demands that the screen be transfigured by the unpredictable, the human, the never-to-be-repeated possibilities of the Stage. AnEn creates audience-based work and considers the audience to be the co-creators of each event.”

What is particularly pertinent about LIEBE LOVE AMOUR! is that the lead role of Hilda is played by Wesleyan graduate Jessica Weinstein. Weinstein created the persona of Tall Hilda in 2002, the year of her graduation. She assisted in the construction of Anonymous Ensemble’s two productions that focus on the relationship between Hilda and her audience, Wanderlust that premiered in 2007 and LIEBE LOVE AMOUR! which opened in 2012.

During the show I was seated in an audience largely consisting of students who are majoring in theater, taking theater classes, and or working on theater projects. I could sense my peers’ excitement watching Weinstein perform, knowing that just ten years earlier, she had been in their shoes.

LIEBE LOVE AMOUR! was a remarkable experience. It certainly granted me a new perspective on the range of storytelling formats available through the synthesis of live theater, film, and audience participation.