Taking place amid the political upheaval of the 1980s, “Ourselves Alone” traverses the emotional landscape of citizens living in Ireland after the 1981 hunger strike against the British government.
Ryan Anderson, the director of the show and a senior in the School of International Service, plucked the play out of class she took on the history of northern Ireland and wished to see it fully performed on stage.
“I really wanted to see this on stage,” Anderson said. “Whether I helped produce it or whether I had to do it all myself, I had to see it on stage.”
As part of her honors capstone, AU Players accepted the production for their fall season.
Glenn Helme, a freshman in SIS, performed theater throughout his high school career. The AU Players production of “Ourselves Alone” is his first foray into the AU theatre world.
“I got an email from AU Players and I said ‘Why not?’” Helme said. “I didn’t know how it was gonna be since this is the first time I’ve ever done this, but it’s been a really good experience.”
Since it is Helme’s first experience in an AU production, he found the production to be an exciting experience.
“It’s a little nerve racking, but I think it’s going well,” he said. “Everyone in the cast, crew, directing and staff have been really supportive. It’s really good to be able to talk through everything.”
Helme plays Joe Conrad, who volunteers to join the Irish Republican Army. Soon he finds himself enraptured in the foibles of romance despite the pall of terrorism constantly looming over his head.
“I’m very big on super realistic designs, whether I’m lighting designing or peer directing, I really want it to feel natural,” Anderson said. “And that’s what I told them when I was initially directing it was I wanted them to move through it naturally. I wanted it to feel like something they would do if they were these characters.”
The play is conceived in a liminal space, dropping the audience in media res. There is no prologue or epilogue. Anderson found this aspect of the play gave the audience their own agency to dig deeper into the historical content.
“I want everyone to sit back afterwards and go, ‘Well, what happens next?’ and maybe that’s what makes them Google it or find out what happens next in the conflict because we’re in the 1980’s,” he said. “There’s another thirty years of history there.”
“Ourselves Alone” will play at the Katzen Studio Theatre on Nov. 22-23. Both days have performances at 8 p.m. Nov. 23 has an afternoon performance at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the door or through eventbrite.
