In a tiny, candlelit black room on the west side of campus, people are bawling their eyes out. And this makes Chelsea Marcantel, theatre and English senior, a very happy woman.
“Joined at the Head” is Marcantel’s University directing debut, presented by the LSU Theatre Studio Season at Theatre 106 in the Music and Dramatic Arts Building from Nov. 12 to Nov. 21.
The LSU Theatre Studio Season provides the opportunity for University undergraduates and doctorate candidates to perform several plays annually. This year, five production slots were available, and Marcantel was chosen to fill one of them.
Marcantel said she wanted to do a production by a modern female playwright, and Catherine Butterfield, who wrote the play in 1992, fit the description.
“We took a lot of liberties with the script,” Marcantel said. “I really don’t believe the text is really sacred.”
The play is about opening up to life and the people around you, Marcantel said.
Marcantel, who is also the show’s sound and video designer, chose music from “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Garden State” that supported the production’s theme — “Life is all around you. Join in.”
Katrina Redmond, theatre senior who played Maggie, said the play revolved around the unwinding of her character, who starts as a high-strung woman with high heels and hair in a tight knot, and ends the night barefoot with her hair down.
The rest of the characters are barefoot the entire show.
“She became one of us, she became normal,” said Gavin Robinson, the theatre senior who plays Jim.
Marcantel said the play appeals to most people.
“It’s not one of those artsy things that makes you feel stupid,” she said.
Brittany Rogers, education freshman, said “it’s funny, it’s sad, it’s simple.” She was in the audience Tuesday night for a class.
Marcantel said the Music and Dramatic Arts Building holds two black box rooms, or black rooms without stages or backgrounds, which are good for non-realism, or unrealistic plays like this one.
Marcantel said this play is disjointed from reality, which makes it a non-realism play. Most plays suggest location; this one does not, because of the lack of background.
“The set director said just leave it, let the audience’s reaction be the backdrop,” Marcantel said. “I like to look around after [the show] and see how many people are crying.”
The ten cast members have emotional roles, and the tears they shed are genuine.
“I cry every night,” Redmond said. “It’s pretty hard to control myself. But if it’s not affecting us, it’s not affecting anyone else.”
Ali Bagbey, theatre sophomore and assistant stage manager, said “I have to watch it every night, and every night I cry.”
Marcantel said the University gives each production $250, so each play turns into something of a group effort, with actors chipping in and people working without pay or school credit. Only the technical designers get any school credit.
The typical Theatre 106 audience is mostly theatre majors. There are only 113 theatre majors at the University, Marcantel said, so they all support each other.
Before the show begins each night, a 30-minute collage-like film plays to music, said Marcantel.
There is a $6 donation at the door. Shows are at 7:30 with extra 2 p.m. shows on Sundays.
To keep up with LSU Theatre Studio events, go to www.theatre.lsu.edu.