Inside a recently swept Black Box theater on Wednesday evening around 7:30, the dust has settled. Two students actors arrive and head to their dressing rooms.
It鈥檚 two days before opening night for , and Gavin Scheurch 鈥�18 of Norwalk Conn., who plays Doug, is eager for the curtain to rise.
鈥淢y favorite part is going to be performing it for a live audience,鈥� says Schuerch ’18, a dance major.
Karlsen and Schuerch, the lead actors in "Gruesome Playground Injuries," speak with director Keila K. "Kei" Ching '18 of Honolulu, while preparing for a speed-through, a very fast reading, of the play. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)
Notes written by stage manager Zachary Jonas '20 of Needham, Mass., seen from the loft above the stage used for controlling sound and lights in the Black Box Theater. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)
The silhouettes of Kayleen and Doug are seen painted on the wall during a dress rehearsal of "Gruesome Playground Injuries." (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)
A horrifically injured Doug, played by Gavin Schuerch, speaks with Kayleen, played by Charlotte Karlsen. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)
Keila K. "Kei" Ching, director of "Gruesome Playground Injuries," looks on during a dress rehearsal scene. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)
Actors are always interested in audience reaction but this play is unusual. The play, by Rajiv Joseph, follows the 鈥渄ecades-spanning relationship of two made-for-each-other masochists who, between them, manage to slice, bloody, bruise and/or mutilate most parts of the human anatomy,鈥� said The New York Times in 2011.
Schuerch鈥檚 favorite scene is when Doug vomits into a trash can to make Kayleen, who had hurled into the can herself, feel comforted.
Kayleen is played by Charlotte Karlsen ’20 of Portland, Ore., a double major in politics and rhetoric.
Gruesome is the first play of the 乐播传媒 season, so 鈥渨e haven鈥檛 had a lot of time,鈥� Karlsen says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been pretty intentional, purposeful, and focused work 鈥� really fun and exhausting as well as a great artistic endeavor and challenge.鈥�
In Kei鈥檚 program notes, director Keila K. 鈥淜ei鈥� Ching ’18 of Honolulu, a dance and theater double major, wrote that the play 鈥渋nitially resonated with me because it was about friendship that lasted and grew despite distance and time, similar to some of the relationships I鈥檝e had in my life.鈥�
On the eve of the play, Kei has second thoughts. 鈥淲hat I really want to say with this play is聽that it鈥檚 about vulnerability and having the vulnerability to expose one鈥檚 wounds to one another. I think that is the real heart of the show.鈥�
