Senior Skye Robicheau and junior Ty Nash presented their directing projects on Thursday, April 27 in the Redfern Arts Center Wright Theatre.
Nash’s production titled “Mind Games” was centered around Dr. Harriman, a psychiatrist whose perception of the world is changed by his patient Ky who is on a psychotic break.
“Ky claims to be the creator of the universe, endowed with the power to manipulate reality itself… Ky’s manic euphoria and phobic terror blur the lines between what is real and what is not, leaving Dr. Harriman grappling with the very nature of his own being,” Nash’s director’s note said.
Robicheau’s production titled “Bash: A Gaggle of Saints” centered around a newly engaged couple who reflect upon their lives prior and around the time of meeting each other and talk to the audience about decisions they have made along the way.
Despite the show being written over 20 years ago, the show’s message reflects upon ideas that are still relevant in modern day, such as homophobia.
“This year alone there have been over 400 new legislation brought against LGBTQ [people] and I really wanted to kind of show the constant cycle we are in currently, this stuff was happening 30, 40, 50 years ago and it’s still going on today,” Robicheau said.
Robicheau added, “I wanted to really bring into focus that if we don’t start to break this cycle, it’s going to keep [repeating], and the character John especially shows the darker sides of us not having change and not moving forward, not changing for the better.”
Robicheau said that her favorite part of directing was the opportunity to collaborate with her actors to bring her vision to life.
“I am a huge director that plays on collaboration, I love working with my actors to create my blocking, to create my vision of the story itself,” Robicheau said. “Collaborating with both Reilly and Wilson has been an amazing experience… Even working with our lighting designer CJ.”
In order to deliver the message of the production as smoothly and respectfully as possible, Robicheau reached out to resources on campus such as the Coordinator of LGBTQ+ Student Support Hunter Kirschner.
“The piece itself is definitely a dark comedy and some of the content… is abrasive but there’s points where we thought, “how can we make this less abrasive to the audience or make it easier for people to see,”’ Robicheau said. “I ended up consulting Hunter Kirschner and talking to him about the piece a little bit more.”
Robicheau added, “Connecting to the vision of the playwright, connecting to the meaning of the show and why it needed to be said and really being able to fall into this piece and give it everything I had… they could only do that when myself as a director has been able to create a safe space for them and create that comradery.”
Junior directing student Ty Nash was unavailable for an interview.
Nicole Dumont can be contacted at
ndumont@kscequinox.com
