Theater Masks | Graphic by Grace Merkle | The Wright State Guardian
The Wright State University theater department presents “Arcadia,” a mix between classic and contemporary that tackles a multi-century mystery.
Behind the scenes
“Arcadia” director and School of Fine and Performing Arts associate chair Marya Cordes described the “Arcadia” production, explaining that the audience shifts between two worlds, one in the 1800s and one in the present day. In each world, the audience meets different people and follows different lives.
“It goes in between those two worlds where we see we witnessed something as an audience that maybe is the truth, or maybe it isn't,” Cordes said.
According to Cordes, “Arcadia” presents a unique challenge and privilege of combining contemporary and classical acting with a diverse experience for both actors and audience.
Deborah Thomas, an associate professor in the School of Fine and Performing Arts, assisted students in perfecting the English dialect for the 1800s portion of the show.
This is in addition to technical and professional staff on set, including a dance choreographer, stage managers, assistant stage managers, costume designers, sound designers and more.
On the stage
The program rehearsed for approximately one month, which is a total of 15 to 16 rehearsals, before the show opened on Feb. 3.
Senior performer Danielle Nissen plays Hannah, a strong and intellectual researcher from the present day. Like the other performers, Nissen auditioned for the role at the end of the fall semester and was immediately interested.
“That idea of the words and the poetry and bringing that to life is something that really, really excites me, and so it's really close to my heart. ‘Arcadia’ is this perfect balance of being classical and in a different time period,” Nissen said.
Nissen described “Arcadia” as a personal favorite production.
Julie Murphy, another performer in “Arcadia,” plays Thomasina, who is a character from the 1800s portion of the show. Murphy admires Thomasina for the character’s wit, youthfulness, strength and compassion for others.
“‘Arcadia’ differs from other shows I've been in because of its more heightened language mostly, but also Stoppard's writing is truly unique in the intricacies of the story and how he connects one timeline to another through props, language, etc.,” Murphy said.
The next large production from the School of Fine and Performing Arts is “On the Town,” a romantic musical comedy set in World War II-era New York City.
