The Keene State Theater and Dance department held auditions for its spring play “Really Really” on Thursday, Nov. 30 in the Redfern Arts Center Wright Theatre.
O’Brien said “Really Really” is loosely based on the 2006 Duke lacrosse case where an exotic dancer attended a college party resulting in her accusing three boys on the lacrosse team of sexual assault.
“I’m going to say [doing this play] is a little bit of a risk maybe, but at the same time, I feel like it’s an appropriate play specifically for a collegiate audience because it’s about sexual assault on a college campus,” O’Brien said.
According to Co-Director Kirstin O’Brien, the production is unique from other playworks performed at KSC because it is a staged reading and therefore auditions were run that way.
“[Auditionees] have to choose a character that spoke to them and they are going to come in and read for that character,” O’Brien said. “They will come into the room and then [CoDirector Jake Odmark] or I, depending on the scene they choose, will play the other role … to get a feel of how that material sits with them.”
Junior Wilson Hines auditioned for the production and said the structure of the audition made him think outside the box as an actor. “They had a very different way of going about the audition, one that I’ve never heard of before when the scene partner is reading off the script, sitting at a table,” Hines said. “I picked an eyeline off to the side, very different than … reading with an actual person next to me.” Sophomore Kei Eaccarino said “Really Really” interested him because, “This show is very real. It’s grounded in reality and that’s what I strive to be as an actor.”
Eaccarino added, “It has so many questions that need to be answered specifically from the askers themselves and specifically from the audience themselves and it’s not up to either one of them to inform each other. There’s a lot of unanswered questions and it’s just a very real story that needs to be told.”
Given its mature content, O’Brien believed “Really Really” was a play that can help educatethe audience rather than simply entertain them.
“I think with a staged reading, it might be the appropriate way to bring the material to Keene State, versus, ‘Here’s our big production in the Wright Theatre,”’ O’Brien said. O’Brien added, “Maybe after the shows we could possibly have some talk backs and the audience can ask the actors questions and we have resources for people … I’m going to get in contact with Jeffrey Mayer from Title IX, I’m going to get with Monadnock Family Services [and] counselors from the Wellness Center.”
The play will be directed alongside Broadway actor Jake Odmark as he will run a 10-day intensive with students.
“It’s pretty incredible that we have the original person playing the role that worked with the playwright coming to work with our students on this story because it’s also very sensitive material,” he said.
Nicole Dumont can be contacted at
ndumont@kscequinox.com
