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Director Trevor
Franklin ’07 (center)
works with actors Nathaniel
Angstrom ’07 and
Allison Kleber
’08 in a rehearsal
for the restaging of the SUNY Oswego student honors
production “Dora: A Case of Hysteria.” Cast and
crew came together to present the November show
at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre
Region II Festival in New Paltz in January. Oswego’s
production was one of just six from the mid-Atlantic
region chosen to present full performances in
the competition. |
While many SUNY Oswego students were on winter break,
some theatre students were pursuing a big break, presenting
“Dora: A Case of Hysteria” at the Kennedy
Center American College Theatre Region II Festival competition.
Only six productions from the mid-Atlantic region were
selected for full performances at the event, Jan. 15
to 19 in New Paltz.
SUNY Oswego’s Trevor Franklin
’07 directed the student honors production,
a dark comedy about one of Sigmund Freud’s most
infamous case studies. Franklin said he knew that Kennedy
Center representatives, who visited for the show’s
run in November, were impressed. When he learned the
renowned festival wanted to showcase it twice, he immediately
called cast and crew to start working again.
“I was excited,” said Allison
Kleber ’08, who played Dora. “Trevor
said, ‘I hope you didn't throw away your script.’”
Nathaniel Angstrom ’07,
who played Freud, relished “the rare opportunity
to revisit a major production.”
The play would need major changes to fit a different
space. But since “Dora” originally unfolded
with only three weeks of rehearsal, Franklin was confident
everyone could meet the challenge.
The dimensions of the New Paltz space meant they could
no longer perform the play in the round, which meant
changes in stage design, movement and interaction. Moreover,
moving to a larger space and different setup removed
the intimacy of the lab theatre, which Franklin thought
was a real strength.
In the original run, “we could talk normally and
be heard,” Kleber explained. “Now we really
had to open up and act more expressively.”
Coupled with a sparse set and only three characters,
which also included Evan McNear
’08 as Papa, Angstrom said it required
“more aggressive acting because we had to fill
the space.”
Franklin praised sacrifices made, as many students returned
to campus early to take the show on the road. Around
20 students and faculty -- some paying their own way
-- went to New Paltz to pull off the production, Angstrom
said.
Despite all the challenges, Franklin was very proud
of how the New Paltz shows went. “The actors really
stepped it up another level,” he said. “There
was a sense the second time around that the cast was
making the show their own. They had confidence to make
the show even better.”
No more than two productions from any region are nominated
for nationals, and while “Dora” was not
selected, participants were happy with their efforts.
“I felt like Trevor and the technical designers
gave us everything we needed,” Angstrom said.
“I felt confident and in control. I think it was
a national level show.”
“Dora” seemed an underdog production, competing
with colleges that are regularly nominated, follow specific
formulas and use well-known playwrights -- unlike Oswego’s
little-known script adjusted on the fly and “an
hour long and texturally repetitive,” Angstrom
acknowledged.
But just getting this far put the SUNY Oswego program
more on the map, Angstrom explained.
“I was really proud standing there when Trevor
got a plaque,” he said. “People were standing
up, applauding. People who have their own ideas about
theatre said they were impressed with what we’ve
done.”
—Tim Nekritz M ’05 |
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