From April 13-17, the J-Mac Studios held the first cycle of the DU Department of Theatre’s Senior Capstone Festival. During the capstone festival, senior theatre majors direct one-act plays, with the cast filled by other students in the theatre department. This cycle featured three short plays, providing a wide range of genres: “Hippie van Gumdrop” by Dan LeFranc, “I’m Not Stupid” by David E. Rodriguez and “Porcelain and Pink” by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
The first play, “Hippie van Gumdrop,” was directed by senior theatre student Thomas Lynch. The cast was made up of only two actors, Meagan Traver and Nicole Seefried, who played two sisters cleaning out the old hippie van their mother had lived out of. The play rested in a balance between comedy and drama, and the actors transitioned easily between the two, drawing laughs from the audience one moment and pensive silence the next. Through this tension, Traver and Seefried expertly explored the tenuous relationship between the estranged sisters.
“I’m Not Stupid,” directed by Sara Sachs, followed a young, mentally ill boy named Roger (Samuel Pierce III) and the conflict between his heartless mother (Lois Shih) and concerned psychiatrist (Anthony Adu). The play was intentionally uncomfortable at times, and Shih delivered the mother’s jarring monologues with subtly sadistic undertones. Though Pierce is a college student, he played Roger convincingly as an innocent young boy, the audience often losing themselves in his anxious portrayal. This unique one-act, originally penned by an 18-year-old playwright, posed many questions about mental illness and complex family relationships, leaving the audience with a lot to think about.
The final play, “Porcelain and Pink,” directed by Emma Phillips, was a welcome lighthearted comedy after the heavier material of the previous plays. Set in a nostalgic 1920s bathroom, the story follows Julie (Rhianna DeVries), a witty young woman, as she’s taking a bath. She’s mistaken for her comparatively more uptight sister, Lois (Rebeka Betemedhin), by Lois’ suitor (Isaiah Adams), resulting in a funny exchange as she resides in the bath. While it may not have had the weight in content of the other two plays, the charm and warmth of the production, due to DeVries’ wonderful performance, made for an enjoyable end to the series.
The cast and directors of the plays were assisted by a crew of tech and costume students. The details of the sets, costumes, lighting and sound design sported the craft of the theater students by adding another creative layer to each of the plays.
The casts and crew were all impressively diverse, both racially and in regards to gender. There were significantly more interesting and complex roles for women in this cycle than the second cycle last year.
The DU Department of Theatre consistently turns out well-crafted productions filled with talent and the senior capstones feature everything the department has to offer. The second cycle of the senior capstone festival will be coming to J-Mac Studios from May 11-15.
