For graduating seniors, Commencement is a magical time. After four years of all-night study sessions, harrowing exams, and lengthy theses, walking across a stage and shaking President Clayton Spencer’s hand seem to be the easiest part of getting a diploma from �ֲ���ý.

Passing another marker on the road to Sunday’s Commencement, seniors and close friends Emma Korein (left), a psychology and French major from Rydal, Pa., and Kathy Polanco, an environmental studies and theater major from Los Angeles, pose for a portrait as they pick up their caps and gowns in Commons on May 27. ‪(Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Yet seniors are able to float through Commencement, taking place May 31 this year, only because of the extensive work and planning that take place in nearly every corner of the �ֲ���ý community.

“It’s almost harder to find an office that doesn’t have anything to do with Commencement,” says Mary Meserve, college registrar.

On the Coram Library porch, Registrar Mary Meserve checks the diplomas one last time just prior to Commencement 2014. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

From Facility Services and Dining Services to the offices of the president and the dean of the faculty, the people behind the scenes — an estimated 180 to 200 — have the production of Commencement down to an art.

In chronological order, here’s a sampling of the hundreds of actions, both tiny and Historic Quad-sized, that add up to a thrilling Commencement:

During the prior year: The president’s office contacts potential honorary degree recipients, who can be nominated by any member of the campus community and who are selected by the trustee Committee on Honorary Degrees.

August: The registrar’s office sends students the first reminder to check whether they’re on track to finish their academic requirements.

�������ܲ�����–M��������: Claire Schmoll, executive assistant to President Spencer, orders the academic regalia for the honorary degree recipients.

After the snow melts (late April): Bill Bergevin, landscape architect, starts readying the grounds for Commencement. This year’s lingering winter, Bergevin says, “shortened the time frame” for campus beautification. During Short Term 2015, Bergevin has overseen a grounds crew of nine students, most of them seniors.

Claire Schmoll, executive assistant to President Spencer, prepares the formularies — compilations of all the Commencement speeches for use on stage — in her Lane Hall office. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

Late April: The dean of the faculty’s office starts encouraging seniors to call and leave voicemails in which they pronounce their names slowly and correctly, twice.

Dean of the Faculty Matthew Auer, who calls the students’ names at Commencement, estimates that three-quarters of seniors do leave a message.

Late April–May: Registrar Mary Meserve repeatedly checks the spelling and other details on the seniors’ diplomas, which were ordered from a North Carolina company in March. In the last two weeks of May, the diplomas are alphabetized, sorted into wooden racks, and checked again.

Facility Services workers use boards to set the proper distance between rows of Commencement 2015 seating. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

Early May: Christine Schwartz, assistant vice president for dining, conferences, and campus events, holds a Commencement logistics meeting with 42 representatives from departments across campus.

This year’s heated controversy: should bottles of water be available in barrels of ice at the ceremony, which may not be photogenic, or under the seats as in years past, where they are often wasted? (Answer: Barrels of water will be available.)

Monday afternoon, three weeks before Commencement: The Commencement choir, composed of primarily underclassmen, meets with John Corrie, lecturer in music and �ֲ���ý College Choir director, for their first practice.

This year, the song selected is “For Good” from the musical Wicked. (As in past years, Portland Brass, bagpiper Rob Simmons, and the Atlantic Clarion Steel Band will also perform.)

The fallback stage: In case of inclement weather, a second Commencement stage is set up in Merrill Gymnasium. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

Last two weeks of May: President Spencer meets with Communications Office staffers for a final review of the honorary-degree citations, which have been researched and written in a collaborative process. Around a table, they read the citations line by line, ensuring that the texts are powerful on paper and in voice.

In addition, Schmoll collates two binders — one for Dean Auer and one for President Spencer — that contain all of the speeches in the Commencement program and will be placed on their podiums on the morning of the ceremony.

Week before Commencement: This being Maine, Facility Services constructs two stages for the event: one on the Coram Library porch facing the Historic Quad and another inside Merrill Gym as a rain site.

The rental companies supplying chairs, audio and video equipment, etc., do not fully equip both sites, but it makes sense to build two stages because that’s the most time-consuming task.

On the Quad, Facility crews set out bleachers and about 2,500 folding chairs, using 3-foot boards to set the spacing between rows of chairs.

John Corrie rehearses the Commencement choir on the stage of the Olin Arts Concert Hall on May 27. They will sing “For Good” from the musical “Wicked.” (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Wednesday before Commencement: In Commons, the custodial staff begins to hand out the graduation robes — an estimated 487 of them — that were ordered in January.

Virginia Sturgis, custodial supervisor, calls the process “very personal,” as many of the custodians are able to give gowns to students that they have known all year.

Meanwhile, Schwartz, Schmoll, and Assistant Dean of the Faculty Kerry O’Brien meet at 8 a.m. for the initial weather call to decide which Commencement site to make ready, though Schwartz waits as long as she can to make a final call.

Noon Friday before Commencement: The registrar’s office officially closes. The list of graduating seniors is finalized and distributed shortly after. Receiving the names enables the Communications Office to finish editing and designing the program, and it is sent to Penmor, a local printer, for printing and delivery by noon Saturday.

Commencement eve: A Dining Services staff of 100 works overnight to prepare the lunch served after Commencement. Schwartz estimates that they serve 5,000 to 6,000 people every year with upwards of 3,200 lobster rolls, 1,200 chicken salad sandwiches and 800 servings of a vegetarian option.

Story author Becca Carifio ’15 earned honors in history for her thesis “Wonder Woman Revealed: William Moulton Marston, World War II and the Rise of a Superheroine (1941-1959).” (Sarah Crosby/�ֲ���ý College)

2:30 a.m. Commencement Day: In the midst of preparing the Commencement luncheon for later that day, Dining Services provides a late-night breakfast for hordes of seniors pulling the traditional all-nighter before graduation.

7:30 a.m. Commencement Day: Facility Services staff arrives at the registrar’s office to move the 13 to 15 racks of diplomas to the stage, where they are checked again to ensure that the diploma that each student receives walking across the stage is in fact their own.

9:20 a.m. Commencement Day: In the final run-up to the ceremony, O’Brien lines up the faculty on Alumni Walk for the procession, as do Associate Dean of Students James Reese with the seniors and Schmoll with the platform party (the president, honorands and company).

At 9:20, Schwartz texts Sturgis, stationed in Hathorn Hall, with the order to flip the switch that rings the bell for the first toll cuing the processional. And Commencement begins.

Preparation for Commencement never stops. Schwartz knows the dates of Commencement through 2021 and is always fine-tuning the planning process.

Graduates remember Commencement as an once-in-a-lifetime memory — but for the rest of the �ֲ���ý community, it is a job polished to perfection through years of practice.

“What gets you geeky?”

In other words, Larry Handerhan ’05 asked a group of �ֲ���ý students on May 16, what interests or ideas make you excited about what you do?

Larry Handerhan ’05 discusses his career path with students during the May 2015 “Working Weekend” program, co-sponsored by the Purposeful Work initiative and the Office of Equity and Diversity. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

Handerhan was one of the alumni speakers welcomed back to �ֲ���ý by “Working Weekend,” a daylong event designed to help students explore how to create meaning in one’s working life.

Co-produced by the college’s Office of Equity and Diversity and the Purposeful Work initiative, Working Weekend neatly braided together two driving interests of the college: preparing students for lives of meaningful work and giving them opportunities to engage with alumni representing diversity in breadth and depth.

Khairah Klein ’91, Stephen Gresham ’03 and Daniel Robarts ’04 joined Handerhan in the morning session “Aligning Yourself and Your Work: Interests, Experiences, Strengths.” (See the entire Working Weekend program.)

The watchwords of the session were “interests” and “strengths.” In combination, these two things — what you love to do and what you do well — give you the power to create a successful and fulfilling professional life. And what gets Handerhan geeky, as he explained to his student listeners, is bringing excellence to public service.

For Handerhan, alignment between self and work began at �ֲ���ý, where he explored social justice issues inside and outside the classroom. As a senior, he completed an honors history thesis on how the civil rights movement contributed to the gay rights movement.

After �ֲ���ý, he signed on with AmeriCorps, where he helped with disaster recovery after Hurricane Katrina. That experience inspired him to help make government more efficient. Handerhan is now a program manager within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Khairah Klein ’91 (at left), a teacher in New York City, was one of four �ֲ���ý alumni to share lessons from their careers during the 2015 Working Weekend panel called “Aligning Yourself and Your Work.” (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

“I immediately felt a connection to the idea that government should help, and I want to be a part of that,” he told the �ֲ���ý group. “So that’s where that interest in helping really turned into a professional value.”

By taking his interests to Washington, Handerhan was able to hone his strengths in consulting and administration.

He offered his listeners two takeaways. First, doing what you love and doing well financially are not mutually exclusive: You can have both.

Second, you can’t plan everything. Many times, career trajectories are nonlinear, and you should keep your options open.

In fact, a recurrent theme for the “Aligning Yourself” alumni was how one opportunity leads to another. When you put yourself out there by networking and staying active, career options open up in unexpected ways.

Robarts was a good example of how aligning interests and capabilities can lead to a meaningful working life. Robarts, who has worked for the USDA on plant genetics and is now at the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden, began in religion and music at �ֲ���ý, but soon dived into biology and neuroscience. A passion for plants brought him to Ohio State University, where he wrote his dissertation on the evolutionary development of pansies.

“Over time, it’s been a fantastic fit for me using all the skills that I’ve developed following my passion,” Robarts explained.

Klein shared her experiences as a schoolteacher at New York City’s Spence School. A political science major at �ֲ���ý, Klein said that politics helps with understanding and respecting differences in the classroom. Even though she felt she hadn’t graduated from �ֲ���ý with a concrete career plan, she did feel motivated by an enthusiasm for family and nurturing young children — which ultimately led her into teaching.

But not before she spent some time in retailing. Klein emphasized that although you may not know what exactly you want to do at first, you should jump in anyway and see where the next opportunity will lead you.

Stephen Gresham ’03 (speaking) was one of seven alumni to return to �ֲ���ý to help present the May 16, 2015, Working Weekend program. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

“It is important to do something that you love,” Klein said. Loving what you do is essential to overcoming a fear of failure.

Gresham, a double major in psychology and Spanish, now works for the Veterans Administration in Bedford, Mass. His Working Weekend story focused on finding places that welcome your identity.

Initially, Gresham didn’t feel compelled to work at the VA. What he discovered, however, was that if you venture outside your comfort zone, you encounter new dialogues in the workplace.

A successful career can depend largely on understanding that your voice is necessary to these conversations, even if your interests and strengths don’t align with the context at first.

“What I wanted to do was not only create spaces that were affirming and nurturing of myself, but serving a similar function for other people,” explains Gresham. “So that is exactly why I went to the VA — because it seemed unfamiliar. It seemed as though it was a conversation that was rumbling.”

Gresham’s concept of bringing new voices to the conversation reflected an objective that Associate Vice President Crystal Williams, �ֲ���ý’ chief diversity officer and director of the OED, had for Working Weekend. Certainly, one criterion for inviting alumni was that they be “particularly thoughtful about meaningfulness in their working lives,” explained Williams, who proposed the program to �ֲ���ý after witnessing a similar event in her previous position at Reed College.

But the project team was also intentional about alumni diversity. “We looked for age diversity, gender diversity, racial and ethnic diversity, first-generation-to-college status, geographic diversity, among other aspects,” she said.

And in the end, “we wove a nuanced tapestry of alumni together to create a program that was rich and sparked personal connections based on many things.”

Staff of Lewiston’s French-language newspaper Le Messager, circa 1910. From “The Franco-Americans of Lewiston-Auburn,” courtesy of the University of Southern Maine, Franco-American Collection.

Even though �ֲ���ý professor Mary Rice-DeFosse and James Myall have studied Lewiston-Auburn’s Franco-American community for years, it can still surprise them.

While researching their new book, The Franco-Americans of Lewiston-Auburn (The History Press), the first comprehensive history of this community written for a general audience, they encountered a few shocks.

“There were lots of little details that were hidden even to people who had looked at that history for quite a long time,” says Myall, former coordinator of the University of Southern Maine’s Franco-American Collection and now executive director of the Freeport Historical Society.

One of the biggest bombshells (“I have trouble just picking one,” he says) came from early 20th-century local newspaper accounts of Franco-American children playing in the city dump in Little Canada (Lewiston’s Franco-American neighborhood) — a structural reminder of the discrimination and oppression new immigrant groups often face.

The authors were not the only ones to be surprised by the stories the book uncovered. “Although Franco-Americans are proud of their history, they don’t know how much they have to be proud of,” says Rice-DeFosse, a professor of French and Francophone studies.

• On April 27, 2015, Rice-DeFosse will be one of three faculty from Maine colleges and universities to receive the Maine Campus Compact’s Donald Harward Faculty Award for Service-Learning Excellence. “Her community-engaged work hits the faculty trifecta,” says �ֲ���ý Harward Center director Darby Ray, “as it involves substantial service to the off-campus community, innovative pedagogy and published scholarship.” In 2014, Rice-DeFosse was inducted into the Maine Franco-American Hall of Fame.

Myall and Rice-DeFosse saw a need for the book within the Franco-American community, to share with its members the details of their rich history, but they also wrote the book for a wider audience, to cast doubt on popularly held beliefs about immigrant identity and assimilation in America.

Sylvia and Rosaire Roy at WCOU Studios on Lisbon Street, Lewiston, circa 1945. From “The Franco-Americans of Lewiston-Auburn,” courtesy of the University of Southern Maine, Franco-American Collection.

“We have a notion of the American melting pot: immigrants come, the first generation doesn’t speak any English, the second generation learns English and the third generation is assimilated,” Rice-DeFosse says. “And Maine’s Franco-Americans do not follow that pattern.”

Instead, Rice-Defosse and Myall reveal in their book an extraordinarily resilient community of Americans who have managed to preserve their French and French-Canadian roots since they started to arrive in the Twin Cities in the mid-19th century to work in the Androscoggin River mills.

The chapters, organized chronologically, are divided into short sections that cover material spanning arts (early 20th-century Lewiston was once dubbed the “Athens of French America”), festivals (like the 1925 snowshoe convention/”beer fest” held openly during Prohibition) and religion — the Church of SS Peter and Paul, an iconic building of the Lewiston-Auburn skyline, was built by 1936 on the “nickels and dimes” of faithful Franco-American parishioners. (It was reclassified as a basilica in 2005.)

A child at an unknown textile mill in Lewiston, circa 1900. From “The Franco-Americans of Lewiston-Auburn,” courtesy of the University of Southern Maine, Franco-American Collection.

The book proceeds into the present, finishing with the reaction of the Franco-American community to the influx of African refugees (some of whom speak French) and the gubernatorial race between incumbent Paul LePage and U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud — two Franco-American candidates. “We really took it right up to the wire, considering we were writing about things that were happening the week before,” Myall says.

The co-authors, who had previously worked together on the board of the Franco-American Collection, enjoyed the collaboration. “We complemented each other nicely between a historical perspective — my primary interest — and Mary’s interest in the language and culture,” Myall says.

Myall and Rice-DeFosse brought to the book research that dovetailed to form a complete portrait of the Franco-American community.

Rice-DeFosse has worked with �ֲ���ý students, particularly those in her course titled “French in Maine,” for years to collect the oral histories of local Franco-American residents. While the interviews started as a way for her students to practice their French language in the community, they evolved into an indispensable source of history.

“I have a record of a number of people’s lives, their life stories…that was the reason we were able to do the book,” Rice-DeFosse says.

Myall brought his knowledge of the huge amounts of information housed in the Franco-American Collection. The collection, the University of Southern Maine’s store of Franco-American archival material (and one of the largest in the state of Maine), contains a plethora of primary sources — old newspapers, diaries, recipe books and thousands of images. Most are donations.

“We really appreciate [that] the information we were getting came mostly from the community in one form or another,” Myall says.

That is what makes The Franco-Americans of Lewiston-Auburn not only a compelling read for American history buffs, but a source of empowerment for the community itself.

“A lot of people say, ‘Thank you for recognizing our history and writing down these things that we all knew, but nobody has written down before,'” says Myall of reactions to the book. “But then there’s also another group of people — or the same group of people — who sometimes say, ‘This is great; I never even knew this about my own heritage.'”

The potential audience for this book extends well beyond the Lewiston-Auburn city limits. Myall encourages anyone from Maine and New England, a region rich in Franco-American influence, to read about this important population.

Rice-DeFosse sees connections in this history for the study of all people who live in border communities, “who in fact are fully American, in every sense, but who also have retained culture and sometimes language over generations.”

Katalin Vecsey, senior lecturer in theater, directs “Closer.” (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

�ֲ���ý College presents Patrick Marber’s Closer, a British play described by New York Magazine as “a sad, savvy, often funny play that casts a steely, unblinking gaze at the world of relationships,” in performances at 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday, March 27-29, in Gannett Theater, Pettigrew Hall, 305 College St.

Admission is free. For more information, please call 207-786-6161.

The director is Kati Vecsey, senior lecturer in the �ֲ���ý theater department. Closer is performed by a rotating cast of 12 students from Vecsey’s Advanced Voice and Speech class. While four students perform, the other eight manage the backstage work, props and lighting.

Premiered in 1997 and perhaps best-known from its 2004 film adaptation, starring Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Clive Owen and Natalie Portman, Closer is set in London and examines human relationships through a raw yet humorous portrayal of a love quadrangle. The play focuses on the complex relationships among four lovers — Dan, Larry, Anna and Alice — as they swap partners over a period of years.

Written during a period in British drama referred to as “in yer face” theater, the play features blunt, explicit language.

As a director, Vecsey says, “I’m interested in the human psyche and personal relationships because that is what life is about. It’s about how we relate to people.”

Vecsey, who is the vocal director for �ֲ���ý theater department productions, picked the play as an exercise for the voice and speech class because the key to the characters lies in the language. She notes how every character has a one-on-one scene with every other character, thereby revealing personalities in depth.

“Each character has his or her own personal background, own demeanor and disposition, own personal rhythm,” says Lydia O’Brien, a senior from Washington, D.C., who is one of the three actors playing Anna. “These are factors that influence voice in unexpected ways.

“During read-throughs, we’ve talked with Kati a lot about characterization and what our characters reveal about themselves through certain lines, and this comes out even more when we work on our character biographies out of class. We think about how our characters’ personal habits and quirks affect voice.”

Here are the three casts:

• Performing on Friday, March 27, are four sophomores: Alex Eaton of Lake Oswego, Ore., as Dan; Brennen Malone of Philadelphia as Larry; Christina Felonis of Athens, Greece, as Anna; and Tara Khanmalek Yazdi of Arlington, Va., as Alice.
• March 28: Gunnar Manchester, a senior from Rehoboth, Mass. (Dan); Colin McIntire, a junior from Darien, Conn. (Larry); O’Brien; Audrey Burns, a sophomore from Topsham, Maine (Alice).
• March 29: Juniors Jonah Greenawalt of Wayland, Mass. (Dan), and Sam Myers of Riverton, Wyo. (Larry); and seniors Abby Zwetchkenbaum of Providence, R.I. (Anna), and Hanna Allerton of New York City (Alice).

An essential part of the learning process for Vecsey’s voice-and-speech students is to narrow in on their characters’ motivations and desires. This begins with a close analysis of the script. Vecsey notes that it’s important that her students approach characterization without passing judgment.

“We always say in theater that acting is reacting,” she says. “So you have to like the character. You have to understand that character’s thoughts and actions. And I think that if you understand that through your own emotions, you will be able to deliver a voice, and express emotions through that voice, that are true.”

O’Brien agrees. “Anna seems to have good values at first, but she goes on to cheat within her relationships and lie about it, as do the others.

“But if you judge your character right off the bat, you’re never going to be able to look past what they’re doing to understand why they’re doing it. You can’t focus on the appearance of what they’re doing — you have to get beneath the surface of their actions so you can embody what they’re really going through.

Incorporating the lovers’ exchanges online as well as face to face, Closer comments on the advent of contemporary communications technology and how it has transformed our interactions. Vecsey believes that the play represents a specific political and economic moment in English society.

At the same time, though, its themes are universal. “There are moments in the play that probably happened to you,” Vecsey explains. “Like when people lie to each other, or betray each other, and how somebody reacts to that, or how someone reacts to kindness, or being cared for, or being loved or not being loved.

“I think it’s very realistic and very relevant still.”

Dan Peeples ’17 of Pierpont, New York, portrays the husband in the �ֲ���ý production of “The Breasts of Tiresias,” directed by Nick Auer ’15. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Guillaume Apollinaire’s surrealist play The Breasts of Tiresias, adapted and directed for a senior thesis project by Nick Auer ’15, appears in performances at 7 and 9 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, March 19-22, in a surprise location on campus.

Admission is free but tickets are required, available at . Seating is limited. Audience members are asked to meet in the lobby of Chase Hall, 56 Campus Ave. For more information, please call 207-786-6161.

Nick Auer ’15 (at center) directs “The Breasts of Tiresias.” (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Auer of Fairfield, Connecticut, has overseen the creation of an immersive, broadly sensory experience for �ֲ���ý audiences.

“I’m excited to both throw the performers out of their comfort zone and throw the audience a little bit into the unknown,” Auer says, “and through that new, exciting venture, the themes and the voice of the playwright will come out in more visceral ways.”

Tiresias tackles heady topics including war, feminism and reproduction. The play follows the main character, Therese, as she decides to transform into a man. Shedding her breasts, Therese breaks free of the bonds of domesticity to become a general and a member of the Senate, roles traditionally reserved for men.

Translated from French and revised over the century, the play is a wink and a nod to the Greek myth of the blind prophet Tiresias, who transforms into a woman.

First performed in 1917, Tiresias was the first surrealist play of its kind. Surrealism explores elements of the seemingly illogical or absurd, and often breaks tradition with conventional narrative in order to touch upon the life of the unconscious.

The �ֲ���ý production of “The Breasts of Tiresias” provides an immersive audience experience. In the red coat is Hope French ’18. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Auer hopes that his immersive retelling of the play will invite the audience to contribute their own insights. The production allows different parts of the play to be performed simultaneously while the audience travels between rooms. The action will include dance. This all adds up to an engaging, unconventional theatrical experience.

For Auer, bringing out the play’s surrealist qualities has been an exciting artistic and technical challenge. He has worked with theater professor Christine McDowell, who developed the costumes, and with classmate Guen Figueroa of McHenry, Illinois, whose design work for the production entails sets, lighting — and scents, although Auer won’t say more about the olfactory aspect, preferring that people come and have the experience for themselves.

“We’ve wanted to experiment with how we can incorporate all the senses,” Auer says. “Our collaboration has definitely been central to the development of the piece.” Like Auer’s, Figueroa’s work on the play is her senior thesis project in theater.

Auer believes the play resonates with contemporary issues of gender politics. “In the play, the gender binary comes through in terms of: You’re male or you’re female, and there are roles associated with both those genders,” he explains.

“Today, we have expanded our idea of what gender means. So, producing this play in 2015 gives it a contemporary voice by expressing all different sorts of ideas of gender.”

He was drawn to the play by the richness and complexity of Apollinaire’s language, and is interested to see how meaning and historical relevance will come through in a contemporary performance — and in collaboration with each different audience.

“Each performance will be markedly different depending on who is attending it that evening,” he explains. “Their response becomes part of the experience.”

At right, Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo, aka Icona Pop, speak with �ֲ���ý student leaders prior to their Campus Consciousness Tour concert on Nov. 1. Shown from left are Shana Wallace ’15, Taylor Blackburn ’15 and Rachel Chappell ’18. (Sarah Crosby/�ֲ���ý College)

Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo know firsthand the importance of female empowerment.

As the DJ duo Icona Pop, they have experienced the double standards and differed expectations that have long affected women in the music industry. So when the pair known for the hit “I Love It” started their U.S. college tour this fall, they sought to connect with female leaders on campus.

Hjelt and Jawo created the “Icona Talk,” a preconcert discussion with students in leadership roles at each of the 10 schools on the . The Swedish music stars hoped that through conversation, they and the student leaders would learn from and inspire each other.

The tour came to �ֲ���ý, its final stop, on Nov. 1. Five students were selected to take part in the Icona Talk on the strength of short essays explaining their leadership roles and interests. Each woman was awarded $100 and the opportunity to bring two guests to the talk and the concert that followed.

At 8 p.m. on that Saturday, 16 �ֲ���ý students sat in a circle in the lobby of Alumni Gym for the talk. Once Hjelt and Jawo arrived, each student leader briefly talked about her work.

�ֲ���ý women with campus leadership roles, and their guests, met with the Swedish DJ duo Icona Pop on Nov. 1. (Sarah Crosby/�ֲ���ý College)

Annakay Wright ’17 of Brooklyn, N.Y., described supporting first-year students as a junior adviser, as well as her contributions as a leader in the performance group Sankofa and as a mentor for students struggling with their sexuality.

Allen Kendunga ’18 spoke about her passion for empowering women to express themselves. She compared her opportunity to have her voice heard at �ֲ���ý to her home, in Kigali, Rwanda. “Where I come from, you are not allowed to speak in public at all. So now that I have this opportunity to speak, and to express my ideas, I just want everyone to feel the same way.”

For Claire Brown ’17 of Rockville Centre, N.Y., the focus is the environment and law. As a �ֲ���ý EcoRep, Brown engages the campus in sustainability issues — a second focus of the Campus Consciousness Tour — and helps students understand their impact on the environment. Brown, who has undertaken an internship in a Lewiston courtroom, wants to become a lawyer.

Shana Wallace ’15 of Pleasantville, N.Y., manages a large farmer’s market in her home state, experience that has taught her about environmental impact. On campus, as a co-coordinator with the Multifaith Chaplaincy, she has worked to create social change. She stressed the need for women to “take up their own space.”

Taylor Blackburn ’15 highlighted her experience on the debate team, traditionally a male-dominated activity. A nationally recognized debater, this resident of Sonoma, Calif., has worked to bring more women into debate, both as a leader on �ֲ���ý’ Brooks Quimby Debate Council and in settings outside �ֲ���ý. She wants to be a screenwriter and improve female representation in film.

The musicians offered encouragement and shared personal stories to validate the students’ efforts. “We hear this, and it gives us so much inspiration,” Jawo said.

She also spoke to the uncertainty that many students feel about pursuing their passions after college. “Once you find your passion, just do it 100 percent. If it doesn’t work out, then you at least tried, and then you can change direction.”

Icona Pop’s Caroline Hjelt, in black, and Aino Jawo react during the “Icona Talk” that preceded their Nov. 1 concert. (Sarah Crosby/�ֲ���ý College)

Starting out as Icona Pop was a challenge, Hjelt added. “Everyone told us how the music industry worked. And we were like, Yeah, we know, we’ve heard all the stories, we’ve heard how it’s supposed to be.

“But that’s the biggest challenge: to not accept it. That’s what you all are doing now. You’re not accepting it.”

For Wallace, the encounter had the intended effect. “It’s incredibly important to see prominent artists supporting and empowering young women,” she said later.

“Society as a whole and many industries are not encouraging of young women, and misogyny is internalized to the point where even women are taught to discourage the efforts of other women. So this kind of powerful representation matters.”

Wallace added, “Caroline and Aino were accessible, kind and encouraging, and I loved speaking with them.”

From left, Colette Girardin ’16 of East Moriches, N.Y., plays Elizabeth Robins and Hanna Allerton ’15 of New York City portrays Marion Lea in the �ֲ���ý production of “The Summer in Gossensass.” The performance is part of a senior thesis project for Allerton. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

�ֲ���ý College presents The Summer in Gossensass, a meta-theatrical comedy about the first English-language production of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, in performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Oct. 30-31, and Monday, Nov. 3; 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2. The venue is Gannett Theater, Pettigrew Hall, 305 College St.

This play about creating a play was written by Maria Irene Fornes, and the �ֲ���ý production is directed by Assistant Professor of Theater Brooke O’Harra. Admission is $6 for the general public and $3 for students and seniors, available at . For more information, please call 207-786-6161.

The play is inspired by a real moment in history. In the early 1890s, American actresses Elizabeth Robins and Marion Lea discovered the work of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen and dedicated themselves to producing Hedda Gabler in English.

Brooke O’Harra, assistant professor of theater, directs “The Summer in Gossensass.” (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

They were particularly fascinated with the complicated title character. Hedda Gabler, written in 1891, tells the story of a woman grappling for meaning and a sense of power within an unhappy marriage. The character of Hedda is one of the first complex and well-developed female characters in theater.

But where Hedda is seeking a path through her circumstances, the characters in Gossensass are seeking a path into the character of Hedda. Fornes’ play, says O’Harra, is meta-theatrical. “It’s an analysis of character in theater and what you do to embody a person.”

Fornes “is constantly using this historical moment to explore the process of analyzing a play — and the desire to make a play.”

Named for the place in Norway where Ibsen met the woman who inspired the Hedda character, Gossensass imagines how the collaboration between Robins and Lea may have unfolded. Throughout the play, the two discover, obsess over and struggle to produce Ibsen’s play. Much of the dialogue dwells on the nature of feminism in Hedda Gabler.

But the piece is also, O’Harra points out, “absurdist, so there’re all these crazy moments. It’s hilarious.” Enriching the comedy are complications involving the translation of the play, performance rights and interference from the Prince of Wales and his paramour Lillie Langtry.

Ciaran Walsh ’15 of Washington, D.C., performs in the 2014 �ֲ���ý College production of “The Summer in Gossensass.” The performance is part of a senior thesis project for Walsh. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

The play’s meta-theatrical nature challenges the cast. If the characters are based on real people, each character at times also portrays a character from Hedda Gabler.

“It demands facile acting to even make the play intelligible to the audience,” says O’Harra. “When you read it on the page, the complexities of it are hard to understand. You have to do a good job acting for it to work.”

The production stars junior Colette Girardin of East Moriches, N.Y., as Robins and senior Hanna Allerton of New York City as Lea. The “acting inside of acting” that occurs throughout the play gives the students the opportunity to examine their own acting processes.

Also in the cast are senior Ciaran Walsh of Washington, D.C.; first-year Hope French of London; and sophomore Dan Peeples of Piermont, N.Y. For Allerton and Walsh, the production is the focus of their senior theses. Each will write a thesis detailing his or her acting process for the play and an analysis of the play itself.

Dan Peeples ’17 of Piermont, N.Y., portrays David in “The Summer in Gossensass.” (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

The Summer in Gossensass, wrote The New York Times‘ Lawrence Van Gelder in a review of the play’s April 1998 debut, “is something of a comic valentine to the antediluvian avant-garde, a consideration of the evolution of acting styles and a trip back through time to a period when ideas about the psychological underpinnings of characters and those who play them constituted a thrilling novelty.”

Now 84, Fornes is an avant-garde Cuban-American playwright and director whom O’Harra describes as the mother of “downtown theater.” Winner of nine Obie awards, Fornes was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1990 with her play “And What of the Night?” She helped pave the way not only for experimental and absurdist theater, but also for female and Hispanic playwrights.

As a nod to the meta-theatrics of the play, O’Harra decided to cover the Gannett Theater stage floor with photocopies of the original Ibsen script.

“The play is constantly referring to itself,” she says. “It asks questions that you didn’t know you had. It forces you to see something beyond what you expect to see.”

More than 96 percent of �ֲ���ý students complete a senior thesis.

What exactly goes into a thesis, however, is different for every student. For theater majors Gunnar Manchester ’15 and Jonathan Schwolsky ’15, senior thesis involves both putting on a challenging production and exploring their own creative and intellectual process in writing.

Note to Readers: A bonus performance of Wasteland takes place at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 13.

For his senior thesis, Manchester, of Rehoboth, Mass., stars in the production of Susan Felder’s Wasteland, in performances at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 10-11, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12, in the Black Box Theater, 305 College St. Playwright Felder will answer audience questions following the Friday and Saturday performances.

Jonathan Schwolsky, of North Caldwell, N.J., directs Richard Maxwell’s Boxing 2000 for his senior thesis. Boxing 2000 will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday, Nov. 14-16, in Gannett Theater, 305 College St.

Both plays are open to the public at no cost. For more information, please call 207-786-6161.

A scene from "Wasteland" starring Gunnar Manchester ’15.

A scene from "Wasteland" starring Gunnar Manchester ’15.

A scene from "Wasteland" starring Gunnar Manchester ’15.

A scene from "Wasteland" starring Gunnar Manchester ’15.

A scene from "Wasteland" starring Gunnar Manchester ’15.

For Manchester, the character of Joe in Wasteland presented a challenge. Though he has extensive experience in theater at �ֲ���ý, “Wasteland,” he says, “is unlike anything I’ve ever done before.”

Although the cast comprises two characters, Manchester is the only actor to appear on stage throughout the 90-minute play. He plays a politically liberal POW during the Vietnam War who, at the start of the play, has been alone in an underground cell for six months. Then another American soldier, the conservative Joe Riley, is placed in an adjacent cell.

Although Joe (and the audience) never sees Riley, he hears his fellow prisoner’s voice through a vent in the wall. Riley is voiced by Psychology Assistant in Instruction Brian Pfohl, whose lines will be amplified through a speaker in the “vent” as he delivers them offstage. As two years go by, Joe and Riley develop a bond despite their drastically different backgrounds and ideologies.

Wasteland is directed by Katalin Vecsey, senior lecturer in the theater program and Manchester’s thesis adviser. Manchester’s written thesis will reflect on the content and context of the play, the research that went into his performance and his performance itself.

While Manchester has been heavily involved in theater at �ֲ���ý, he has most often worked in comedy. He is a leading member of both the Strange Bedfellows, �ֲ���ý’ improvisational comedy group, and the Robinson Players, �ֲ���ý’ student theater organization. His role in Wasteland is more dramatic and deals with, amongst other things, political division, war, loneliness and despair.

However, he notes that the play sends a message that humor and hope can help, “no matter how dark things get.” He says, “You’ve got to keep hope going,” he says.

Jonathan Schwolsky ’15 directs “Boxing 2000” in November. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

For Schwolsky, the challenge of directing a senior thesis production is an opportunity to collaborate and experiment. In Boxing 2000, a young man, Freddie (Will Dunbar ’15), pursues underground boxing with the help of his older brother JoJo (Alex Moscovitz ’16).

The play uses boxing culture as the framework for a discussion about masculinity and community. As director, Schwolsky sought actors who would bring in their own ideas about the play. “The director is not the one in charge, but the one with the vision,” he says.

“Anyone can see this show and come out thinking something different.”

Schwolsky also feels a personal connection to the boxing culture in the play, a culture he says is very much present in his part of New Jersey. To prepare for the production, he attended an amateur boxing match and talked with people in the Boonton, N.J., boxing community.

Last spring, Schwolsky read 14 plays by Maxwell to prepare for his thesis. He was drawn to the colloquial language and universal message in Boxing 2000. Maxwell himself directed the original production of the play with the goal of mimicking reality as closely as possible. His actors spoke simple, often mundane dialogue in monotone.

As he directs the play, Schwolsky hopes to take inspiration from Maxwell’s vision and expand upon it with his personal vision. He collaborated with professional set designer Simon Harding to design the unusual two-tiered set. The audience will sit around and look up at a 5-foot-tall square platform in the center of the theater, where the action will take place.

Schwolsky hopes that Boxing 2000 will affect each audience member differently and make them ask questions about their own lives. “Anyone can see this show and come out thinking something different,” he reflects. “And that is fascinating to me.”

Brenna Callahan ’15 inspires a love of reading in young Montello School students with Project Story Boost.

Brenna Callahan works with a rising fifth grader at Montello School. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Name: Brenna Callahan

Hometown: Milton, Mass.

Major: Interdisciplinary studies, with a focus on education

Internship sponsor: Harward Center Summer Community Work-Study Fellowship.

1. What is Project Story Boost?

Basically, it’s an early literacy intervention program. We work one-on-one with kindergarteners, first- and second-graders in a comfortable environment. We want to replicate a nighttime reading session with parents, a setting where the kids can feel relaxed and develop a love of literacy with a �ֲ���ý student — develop that relationship and read some great books. I started working at Montello in 2013.

2. School’s out, what do you do for the project during the summer?

During the school year, as a Student Volunteer Fellow I recruited and trained �ֲ���ý student volunteers, and worked one-on-one with Montello students. This summer I’ve been working with a summer class unrelated to Project Story Boost, but also looking at Project Story Boost’s evaluation program, redesigning and refining it to make sure we’re getting the information we want.

3. Tell me about that information.

We’re entering the data we collected over the entire school year after every single student session. After a �ֲ���ý student reads with a Montello student, the volunteer fills out a form that tracks the Montello student’s behavior, which book they were reading, how responsive they were and what kinds of questions they asked.

This summer we’re inputting all the data to see if there any trends based on the level of book the pupil read. Then we’re going to take a step back and look at the evaluation forms to see if there are different questions we want to ask to solicit new information.

4. What specific details did you focus on?

We’re trying to see if there are changes over time — if a child’s behavior is different at the beginning of a semester than at the end, if they’re understanding more of the story at the end of the semester than at the beginning. We’re looking for concrete changes that show that the program’s making a difference.

5. What do you like about this work?

I love working in the schools, it’s my favorite environment to work with kids. I’m a very structured person, and schools give me that structure. I’ve never worked with such young kids before, that was something new for me — I love it. I love getting to see Montello students experience the same books that I loved reading as a child.

6. Do they have ?

They do! There are some good ones in there, like .

7. How does Project Story Boost relate to your studies at �ֲ���ý or your career plans?

I know I want to go into education, but I don’t know exactly how I want to do it yet. I don’t know if I want to do curriculum development, if I want to write books, work one-on-one with students or work in the classroom. Getting into the Lewiston schools has been a great opportunity to explore the different career paths I may want to pursue. I’ve gotten to try a variety of things, which has been really eye-opening. I’ve been very lucky to have these opportunities.

8. Any thoughts on how your liberal arts education impacted your experience?

One thing that I’ve loved about my �ֲ���ý experience is that I’m an interdisciplinary major. I’ve been able to combine classes in education, sociology, psychology and politics, see the connections and see how it plays out in the real world.

9. Do you have any concluding thoughts you’d like to share?

Lewiston is the reason I came to �ֲ���ý. Through the Harward Center and through Project Story Boost I’ve been able to take advantage of that, to live in this community and be a part of it in a way I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. It’s my favorite part of going to �ֲ���ý.

I’m really excited to be here for the summer, and to be a part of the community 12 months out of the year, to work with these kids and develop meaningful relationships. They’ve grown, and that’s really fun to see.