Theater dept. dissects 'corpse' of the play
Larry Fleury
Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: After Hours
The PSU Theater Department just finished its production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which was held Thursday, Oct. 22, to Saturday, Oct. 24.
The cast, directors and designers held a postmortem on Thursday, Oct. 29. The term, which is Latin for "after death," refers to the end of the play and a review to make future productions run more smoothly.
Cynthia Allan, chair of the Communication Department, led the postmortem and described the affair as a theater tradition.
"We are examining the corpse of the play," Allan said. "We created a living, breathing, artistic organism. Now it's over and we figure things out."
Still, postmortems are a rarity on college campuses.
"At a majority of campuses, postmortems are no longer held because they usually become competitive, backstabbing things," Allan said. "That has never happened here."
Allan asked the cast to list the best things about the production of the Shakespeare play.
Dan Williams, scene designer and technical director, said that reviews are pointing out the design and the setting, the work of several students, as high points in the production.
"Over 90 percent of the review papers I've read about the show so far have mentioned the costumes and the wings in particular," Williams said. "As well as the makeup, the hair and the stage design."
David Reazin said a negative was that the dialogue was difficult to understand.
"One thing that my mom said is that it's old English," Reazin said. "Slow down. Most of the actors ran through the lines like it was a brush fire. Slow down so we can actually understand what you're saying."
Gil Cooper, director, commented on the odd music chosen for the intermission and said he wanted to pick something fun and contemporary.
"I was completely unfamiliar with modern classical music, our tag was problematic," Cooper said. "That's why very, very late, I said that this show is about having fun, the passion of love, it's kind of magical … I want some fun stuff. I wanted something that the audience would be able to connect with, like 'Walking on Sunshine.'"
Allan said she was impressed with the behavior of students who attended the shows and hopes for the same behavior in the future.
The cast, directors and designers held a postmortem on Thursday, Oct. 29. The term, which is Latin for "after death," refers to the end of the play and a review to make future productions run more smoothly.
Cynthia Allan, chair of the Communication Department, led the postmortem and described the affair as a theater tradition.
"We are examining the corpse of the play," Allan said. "We created a living, breathing, artistic organism. Now it's over and we figure things out."
Still, postmortems are a rarity on college campuses.
"At a majority of campuses, postmortems are no longer held because they usually become competitive, backstabbing things," Allan said. "That has never happened here."
Allan asked the cast to list the best things about the production of the Shakespeare play.
Dan Williams, scene designer and technical director, said that reviews are pointing out the design and the setting, the work of several students, as high points in the production.
"Over 90 percent of the review papers I've read about the show so far have mentioned the costumes and the wings in particular," Williams said. "As well as the makeup, the hair and the stage design."
David Reazin said a negative was that the dialogue was difficult to understand.
"One thing that my mom said is that it's old English," Reazin said. "Slow down. Most of the actors ran through the lines like it was a brush fire. Slow down so we can actually understand what you're saying."
Gil Cooper, director, commented on the odd music chosen for the intermission and said he wanted to pick something fun and contemporary.
"I was completely unfamiliar with modern classical music, our tag was problematic," Cooper said. "That's why very, very late, I said that this show is about having fun, the passion of love, it's kind of magical … I want some fun stuff. I wanted something that the audience would be able to connect with, like 'Walking on Sunshine.'"
Allan said she was impressed with the behavior of students who attended the shows and hopes for the same behavior in the future.
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