Keene State College’s Theater and Dance department (TAD) is preparing to open its spring ‘25 theatrical performance, Arthur Miller’s “The Creation of the World and Other Business” on Wednesday, March 5 at the Redfern Arts Center’s Main Theatre.
Miller’s “The Creation of the World and Other Business,” is a comedic re-telling of stories from The Book of Genesis, a religious text found in Judaism and Christianity. The show takes a creative twist on well-known religious stories like Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel and is a more obscure selection within the larger catalog of Miller’s work.
According to the play’s director, Professor of Theater Tyler Keyes, that obscurity drew him to the script.
“This is an Arthur Miller work that is rarely performed and almost shied away from, which I think is because it’s rather unknown, and we’re excited to perform it and put it on the map,” said Keyes.
Keyes said Miller’s satirical spin on characters like God and Lucifer offer a thought-provoking twist on the story.
“One thing that particularly drew me to this play is how we see God and Lucifer as characters, in terms of dealing with what duality is in regards to religion or philosophy, as representing different sides of every person,” said Keyes. “In this show, Lucifer is portrayed as having inventions and desires to gain experience and show Adam and Eve to all the wonders the world has to offer, while God is trying to play on the safe side.”
“It’s written so that you can see yourself in both sides, and you can see yourself agreeing with both sides at certain moments in the play,” added Keyes.
Lucifer was written in the original script to be played by one person, but KSC’s production will take an original spin on the character, having three performers play the role as a hivemind.
“Lucifer in the script is just a single actor, and we ended up with making that a concept we can include and let us explore a lot of cool things with choreography and costuming, it’s a fun way to surprise the audience and bring something different to the show,” said Keyes.
Sophomore Julia Dube is playing one-third of the Lucifer role.
“The three of us play a hivemind role, and we all play a different part of what his psyche might be. I play his happier thoughts, while the others play his logical side and sarcastic side. When we’re all together, we work as one unit, which is where a lot of the choreography comes in to show off that hivemind idea further,” said Dube.
“It’s a different form of playing a character to get used to, and that gives it a more interesting feeling from an acting perspective,” added Dube.
Junior Kei Eaccarino, who is playing the role of Adam, said rehearsal has been a long and rewarding process.
“We’ve been working on this since before winter break, including Zoom rehearsals during that break, and working with Tyler [Keyes] has been great because he has a clear image for what he wants, and it’s been interesting to play with this performance,” said Eaccarino.
Senior Wilson Hines is playing the role of God, which is slated to be his final pre-graduation performance at Keene State College.
Hines said playing the role of God is a unique experience as a performer.
“It’s been a blast learning and growing this character. It’s pretty bizarre to be playing a character that everyone has their own unique image and interpretation of, and it’s super interesting to step into those shoes and work on my own interpretation of performing this character,” said Hines.
“My interpretation of God as a character in this show is very presentational because he’s very huge and his voice carries and looks shine to the other side of the room, and I’m still learning the character but I’m more than excited to play the part,” added Hines.
The show will run nightly until Saturday, March 8, from 7:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m.
Ryan Pacheco can be contacted at
rpacheco@kscequinox.com
