This Wednesday, DRAM 3652 “Producing Theatre” put on their semester-long culminating performance of “Where Words Once Were.” Free to all, the play was performed in the Helms Theatre. With audience members seated on three sides of the stage — a configuration known as black box theatre — and a stripped down set, viewers were able to immerse themselves within the dystopian universe.
This pioneering class aims to help young drama students produce their own play. Prior to the performance, Assoc. Prof. Caitlin McLeod stepped in front of the audience to explain that the students were given freedom to choose what play they wanted to perform and how. From the set design to the costuming to even directing, the students were able to have creative control.
Originally written in 2016 by Finegan Kruckemeyer, “Where Words Once Were” is set in a dystopian world where vocabulary is limited to a list of 1000 words and the rules strictly enforced. Orhan, the main character played by third-year College student Jack Wolff, defies these rules in search of new words. He forms a friendship with Angela, played by second-year College student Gabby Everett, one of the citizens who has been silenced due to breaking the rules of word usage. As the play progresses, Orhan pushes the boundaries of words, culminating in a societal disruption…