Keene State College’s Theatre and Dance Department hosted its first performance of the year, titled “After the Blast.”
Performances took place October 9 to 13 with opening night being sold out. The play centered around what it would be like if society succeeded in post-apocalypse. The setting of the play takes place underground and in the future.
An audience member, sophomore Alexis Page, said, “One of my friends had to go for their class and they asked me If i wanted to go along and I said of course.” She said her favorite part of the show was the character of the little robot.
Professor of Theatre Tyler Keyes who directed the show said, “Oh my gosh, I was absolutely thrilled, so nice to have these sold-out houses that apparently are going through the run and see these actors react to a real audience and feel their energy and enjoy what the theater is supposed to be,”
Technical Director for the Theater and Dance Department Craig Lindsay worked on “After the Blast” with Keyes. Lindsay said every show has its own unique challenges.
“A good challenge is bringing students into the theater and having them do new roles and form new duties but that is part of the job,” Lindsay said. “Everything went really well all-in-all, the show got a little bigger than we thought it would be in terms of lights and sets specifically, but we really put our hearts and soul into the show. I wouldn’t say it was much of a challenge but a good investment.”
Lindsay said the technical design for “After the Blast” started in May.
“The show was cast in the first week of classes and they’ve been rehearsing ever since, so they had about a four-week rehearsal process,” Lindsay said. “We do levels for sound and light, get the cues adjusted and technical and dress rehearsals, and [the] audience shows up and it’s magic.”
Lissa Saunders, assistant technical director and lead electrician helped with the effects program for the lights.
“I think there were definitely some challenges for the show, the first show of the year has a more limited time frame so we were in a bit of a rush to get this stuff done,” Saunders said. “Time, in general, was a bit tight on this show and that was the big thing.”
Tamy Jacques can be contacted at
tjacques@kscequinox.com
