As part of its fall season, the Denver Theatre Department recently put on the play “The Nina Variations.”

The play ran for five nights from Oct. 15 – 19 in the J-Mac White Box Theatre after five weeks of rehearsal by the cast.

Based on Anton Chekov’s “The Seagull,” the play is 43 variations on the final scene between Nina, an actress, and Treplev, a failed writer. However, while Treplev had been hopelessly in love Nina two years before, but she was in love with another man. In the author’s note, the playwright Steven Dietz says that the play is based on the idea of “parking lot wit,” or useless, retroactive wisdom about what we should have said or done instead.

Both Nina and Treplev are played by three actors simultaneously, with Cicely Galm, Adeline Mann and Ashley Campbell playing Nina, and Keegan Bockhorst, Aaron Dupuis and Trevor Fulton playing Treplev.

The fourth wall is broken multiple times in the play, and the other Ninas and Treplevs occasionally interact with each other, particularly the Treplevs. Despite being based on another play, background knowledge of “The Seagull” was not required to understand or enjoy “The Nina Variations.”
“Our department decided to produce the famous ‘The Seagull’ by Anton Checkov also this quarter,” said Professor Anne Penner, director and scene designer of the show. “I thought it might be interesting to choose a play that connected somehow to that one. I think the writing in [Nina] is incredible, and I was fascinated and challenged by its structure.”

The actors also had the chance to work with Nina Variations playwright Steven Dietz in September during his guest residency at DU.
“Steven Dietz’s visit was terrific,” said Penner. “He was so kind, compassionate and fun to collaborate with. He answered some of our questions about the text, and then chimed in with thoughts as we began to stage some of the scenes. ”

Dietz participated in two rehearsals with the cast wherein he discussed the writing of the play, as well as answered different questions about the text itself. Having Dietz there also gave the cast and crew more fluidity to change things and not have to work exactly from the text.

“He was the most quotable man ever,” said sophomore Ashley Campbell. “It was great being able to change things [with his blessing].”

“He was so supportive and positive,” said senior Adeline Mann. “He was so delighted at seeing his work brought to life. He was a teacher and a mentor.”

In addition to attending rehearsals, Dietz lectured on the responsibilities of professional theatre artists and did a 90-minute playwriting workshop.

“The process has been extremely smooth,” Penner said. “I chose a well-written play that was the right length for us to be able to understand fully and do justice theatrically in the relatively short period of time we had.”

The Theatre Department will continue its fall season with a production of The Seagull, which will run from Oct. 30 to Nov. 9 at the Byron Theatre.