‘The Smiles’ to make debut at GCSU

Based on a true criminal trial, “The Smiles” is the story of a fallen minister who abuses his wife. The modern play is an original piece written by playwright Karla Jennings, who was a reporter on a criminal case that left her searching for answers.

After much research, Jennings began putting the story of “The Smiles” together, creating a disturbing tale combining a court-room drama similar to the television shows “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and “Law and Order.”

“This disturbing play is not for everyone. It is for mature audiences only, due to content,” Karen Berman, department chair of theater, said.

Though this play may not be for all audiences, it was chosen by the theater department and David Muschell, a professor in the English and rhetoric department, out of many other submissions as part of a contest. The GCSU performance of “The Smiles” will be the premiere of the play, and the playwright has been sitting in on practices to rework or rewrite parts that do not convey the correct message.

Berman explains that she hopes that all who come into contact with the play learn about human behavior and how to extract themselves from oppressive or abusive relationships. She went on to say that she hopes students realize that redemption is possible.

“I’d say the moral of the story is finding love for one’s self and the freedom that that holds,” Iona Pendergast, the play’s director and a professor of theater, said.

As a result of “The Smiles” being chosen, it received the nationally competitive Pillars Playwriting Prize, which includes a university workshop production. Jennings has recently visited the GCSU campus, working with all those involved with the production in order to continue the work on her play.

“It has been intimidating working with the playwright because not only is the director telling you what you’re doing wrong, but the person who actually wrote it is too,” Elisha Hodgin, a senior theater major, said.

Though this is the first time the show will be performed, a couple of members from the cast say that there is no more pressure than any other show. Hodgin claims that she is more concerned about when or if the show is performed elsewhere and how others will be looking to her for example.

Nicholas Marrone, a junior theater major, has many “Nic-isms” that could not be brought into the show this time. Marrone commented on this, explaining that his normal stance is naturally tense with rigid angles and he has really had to learn to relax his body and move in an entirely different way.

“I’ve tried to break the actors’ habits and make them seem almost unrecognizable to the audience. I’ve tried to put new faces on old faces,” Pendergast said.

Many older faces are in the production with a couple additions of upperclassman from other majors, no freshmen have been added to the cast list because auditions were held near the end of last school year. The process was done this way so that the actors would have the scripts to work on over the summer and rehearsals began this semester. Rehearsals have been packed in due to the limited amount of time given to work on this production.

According to Hodgin, the process can be very emotionally draining for the actors, due to the story as well as the amount of time the cast puts into the production. Adding to their work load, having Jennings on set caused little changes in the script, which required some adjusting.

“The changes just make you focus more and make decisions on what to do differently,” Marrone said.

Jennings has left campus for the time being, but will be returning for the opening Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. This is not the only event surrounding the production, which will also be performed through Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. A final performance will then be held on Oct. 4 at 2 p.m. in Russell Auditorium. Other events include a brown bag lunch with speakers and a talk-back session that will be held after each show where professors from various departments will try to assist everyone’s understanding of the production after each show.

“We are doing everything to create an academic experience as well. It is not just a play,” Pendergast said.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 25 2009. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry