Spring theatre production steps back in time with medieval morality play.
By Melissa Fowler '09
This semester the Virginia Wesleyan College Theatre Department decided to take a step back in time to the medieval period with the spring 2008 production of Everyman.
Dating back to the time period between 1450 and 1500, Everyman is a medieval morality play about death and dying; the playwright is unknown. There will be six performances on the Hofheimer Theatre stage, starting on Friday, April 4.
"Everyman is about dying yet it is an engaging and entertaining play," said Director and Associate Professor of Theatre Dr. Sally Shedd. "This production takes a comic yet poignant turn at this timeless and inevitable happening in everyone's life."
The plot is about Death visiting Everyman, eventually forcing him to determine what is really important in terms of life priorities. Shedd hopes that people will bring their families because the play was originally performed for entire communities. Sophomore Stephen Eley who plays Messenger and Good Deeds, two different allegorical characters, shares Shedd's hope.
"The play is very entertaining and will make you laugh at the same time as making you think about it," said Eley. "It is very family friendly and will be suitable for all ages," he noted.
Freshman Kathryn Zitz, who plays Everyman, said that her character represents every person.
"Everyman grows as a person throughout the course of the play, and learns many valuable lessons about life, and whom to trust," Zitz said. "The audience will relate to Everyman."
Shedd said that the creative process behind the Virginia Wesleyan production of Everyman was guided by the multiple possibilities for staging archetypal characters such as Death, Goods, Knowledge, Kindred and the title character. She involved the cast in the interpretive process by giving the actors research assignments for each of the characters they play. The students had to research representations of their character (Death, Goods, etc.) prior to 1450, between 1450 and 1900, and from 1900 to the present. In rehearsals, actors explored the various options before ultimately creating unique depictions.
"The outcome is a mix of costumes and periods," said Shedd. "It's not all medieval clothing."
On top of the character research, the cast has been rehearsing hard for their debut. Rehearsal takes place four nights a week for three hours and the students are receiving credit toward their college education for their efforts.
"The play was written during the Middle Ages, making the language pretty tricky, but once you move past that it's a delightful play to perform," said Zitz. "I really like the fact that we are playing up the comedic moments in the play, thereby making it much more enjoyable to the audience."
Everyman will be performed April 4, 5, 10-12 at 7:30 p.m. and April 6 at 2 p.m. in Virginia Wesleyan's Hofheimer Theatre. Admission is $5 and free to VWC students, faculty and staff.
03.26.08