AU seniors in the theater and musical theater programs aim to provide fun and enlightening themes this weekend as they present their capstone project, an original work titled “Un/Done: A Theatrical Odyssey.”
The play centers around two different worlds: one with the Greek Gods and the other featuring the students’ common journey through life.
Production began back in January at the start of the semester and is finally coming to fruition for the 24 seniors who have been working on the play day-in and day-out. The entire play was made from scratch, with the seniors having total creative freedom from the script to the stage design and everything in between. All of the seniors participated in different portions of the play from tech design to playwriting, with most students acting as well.
Natalie Rine, a producer on “Un/Done,” said the process has been a tedious one, and with no rules as to how they set up the production, the play went through many iterations.
“We were dreaming really big -- we wanted two shows going on at once, and we wanted this to be a massive thing for Katzen,” Rine said. “We all had to come together and say ‘that’s not the right format.’”
Since then, the play has been finalized, the production is ready to open this Thursday, April 26 at 8 p.m. in the Katzen Arts Center. With 24 people working on the play, all having their own visions and ideas, collaboration was key for success, playwright and actor Jacob Gallo said.
“Theater is always about collaboration, but when you’re making it work from the ground up, that collaboration is much more present than it normally would be,” Gallo said.
One particular aspect the crew has been pleased with is the highlight of tech design, said set and graphic designer Carly Thaw.
“People often forget about tech theater,” Thaw said. “In this production we’ve been trying to seamlessly incorporate technicians, which has been pretty cool.”
Gallo said he hopes audience members take away some lessons from not only The Odyssey and ancient Greece, but also the journey of college life.
The seniors hope people see how much fun they have had throughout the capstone project and its final presentation. Most of all, they hope people enjoy themselves, Rine said.
“I hope audiences like it, first of all,” Rine said.
“Un/Done: A Theatrical Odyssey” will have performances beginning Thursday, April 26 at 8 p.m. through Saturday, April 28, with an extra matinee performance on Saturday. Tickets are $10 for the AU community and $15 for general public. The production contains mature themes.
