Austin Peay theatre students collaborate with NYC theatre, playwright on new play
(Posted on Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021)
Since February, several Austin Peay State University theatre students and professors have participated in a unique collaboration with the renowned Farm Theater in New York City.
During , several Austin Peay students have worked with a professional playwright 鈥 Brooklyn-based 鈥 to develop an original work.
After nine months and several meetings 鈥 including a three-day workshop at The Farm Theater in August 鈥 the students are ready to present a staged reading of that play.
The play 鈥 鈥淥ur Tempest鈥 鈥 will be free and open to the public at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 5 and 6 at the Margaret Fort Trahern Laboratory Theatre at Austin Peay鈥檚 Clarksville campus.
The public also can attend a free workshop with Brasch at 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5, at the theatre.
鈥淎 lot of students will never get this experience until they actually go on into the professional world,鈥 said Darren Michael, an Austin Peay acting/direction professor who鈥檚 also directing the play. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what鈥檚 exciting for me is the students get to work on fresh, new stuff.鈥
Austin Peay theatre senior Alyssa Amos had the same excitement.
鈥淭o work through the creation of a show is genuinely integral for my collegiate education and for my future career,鈥 said Amos, who dreams of being an operations manager or arts administrator for a large theatre house. 鈥淜nowing the full process of a show is insanely useful, and I am beyond elated to be a part of it.鈥
The play runs for about an hour and 45 minutes. After the performance, Brasch and the students will interact with the audience during a Q&A.
Creating a 鈥榙ynamic and animated鈥 energy
The Farm Theater鈥檚 College Collaboration each year commissions a professional playwright early in their career to write a play while working with multiple college students. The students then independently produce the play during the academic year.
This year, Brasch is working with Austin Peay and Pellissippi State Community College students and professors.
Brasch met with 10 students virtually in February to get ideas about what issues affect their lives. He then wrote the play during the spring and summer to reflect the students鈥 thoughts.
鈥淏rainstorming with a seasoned writer led to fantastic discussions on the merit that theatre holds in changing public opinion,鈥 said Amos, who is double-majoring in theatre acting and directing and business management and marketing. 鈥淲e discussed everything from personal identity to soybean production in Tennessee.鈥
In August, seven Austin Peay students and two professors 鈥 Michael and Talon Beeson 鈥 visited The Farm Theater in New York for a three-day workshop to collaborate in person on the play with Brasch and The Farm Theater鈥檚 artistic director, .
鈥淓ach day we would read a part of the play, and Jake would go home, revise it and come back the next day,鈥 Michael said. 鈥淔or three days, the play developed.鈥
Added Amos: 鈥淥nce inside the theatre space, the energy brought by the playwright and the actors involved was dynamic and animated.鈥
The trip also coincided with Broadway reopening to the public after closing during the pandemic, and the students saw the first new play to open, Antoinette Nwandu鈥檚 鈥淧ass Over.鈥
鈥淭he first thing you heard was, 鈥榃elcome back to live theatre in New York,鈥 and everyone went crazy,鈥 Michael said.
Austin Peay鈥檚 Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts sponsored the trip.
鈥淢y colleagues and I were able to meet with the actors and writer outside of the theatre space and simply talk about our studies, careers and the overall process of working in theatre,鈥 Amos said. 鈥淏eing able to talk to these professionals about anything and everything was beyond enlightening about different paths to take after we graduate.鈥
Thinking about yourself and the world
About a dozen Austin Peay students have worked on the collaboration.
Brasch visited the students last week at Austin Peay to further adjust the play, preparing it for the Nov. 5-6 staged readings.
The student crew is Noah Puckett, assistant director; Amos, stage manager; Autumn Rager, assistant stage manager.
The cast is Jessika Land as Jessica, Destiny Neal as JJ, Jaylan Downes as Denver, Justin Tinker as Lucien, Khatelin White as Adelaide, Breanna Douglas as Elle, Sebastian Fenton as Mack, Sarah Wilson as Bear 1/custodian and Noah Puckett as Bear 2/towing guy.
鈥淭he play is weird and wild,鈥 Michael said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very funny, but he鈥檚 really into the idea of expansiveness, thinking outside the box a little more about yourself and about the world.鈥
The characters 鈥 six theatre students from Tennessee 鈥 are tasked with creating a play based on Shakespeare鈥檚 鈥淭he Tempest鈥 about climate change.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not really about that, and the students really aren鈥檛 into it, so it becomes this giant catastrophe of all these students fighting over issues that are too big,鈥 Michael said.
The Pellissippi State students will present a full production of the play in the spring before the play returns with Brasch to New York for a full professional production at The Farm Theater.
For more information about the Theatre & Dance at Austin Peay, including program information and a list of upcoming productions, visit the department鈥檚 website.
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