 "Photo: Uwg Theater Dept.")
So begins another stellar season for the University of West Georgia’s theatre company. The university theatre company starts off the new decade with the continuation of the 2009-2010 production season, including a play that will be performed for the first time in the region.
Only the second time ever produced, UWG’s theatre company will be performing Barbara Lebow’s “Plumfield, Iraq,” a play about war and the effects it has on America’s youth through the lens of characters suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The production is directed by Pauline Gagnon, the Department of Mass Communications and Theatre Arts department chair, and the stage will be managed by Will Richardson.
“One good thing is that Barbara Lebow spent the first week of rehearsal with us,” Gagnon said. “She made changes to the script and got to know the kids, it was great.”
The play features an ensemble cast, with Drew Patton performing the role of Mike, a high school student from the fictitious town of Plumfield, whose monetary woes eventually lead him and his best friend Cam (Matt Suwalski) to a career in the United States military circa the 2003 Iraq invasion.
“This is as close to professional as we’ve ever been,” Richardson said. “There’s so much media. We’re using video, fog and projectors all over the audience all around the audience. We want to wrap the audience in this world we’ve created, make them believe every single minute.”
The play uses a modular timeline, jumping from the Iraqi warzone, back to the Mike’s hometown and the exploits of Mike and Cam at home and abroad.
Set designer Brad Darvas’ imaginative design of the stage makes use of stairs and divisions between the basement in which Mike lives and the Iraqi battle zone. Richardson says that the use of a fog machine along with the nonlinear sequence in which the play is performed will keep audiences interested.
“The script requires a certain soundtrack and that certain scenes are played over projectors,” Gagnon said. “All this is done by our students.”
The lighting was designed by Tommy Cox, media designed by Andra Ward, and the costumes designed by Alan Yeong. The realism these students designed is coupled with the acting to convey the story to the audience.
“The actors are trained to find out how to portray the meanings of the whole story,” Richardson said. “We’re not giving it to them, but making the story clear. If there is no texting involved and focus is kept, it will be an incredible story for them to see. It’s going to be amazing,” Richardson said.
The community preview for “Plumfield, Iraq” will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Townsend Center’s Dangle Theatre. Performances of the show will continue through Feb. 25.
The season will continue with the 19th year of the company’s popular production, “Episodes in Sexuality.” The performance is produced and directed by UWG theatre students and is co-sponsored by the Responsible Sexuality Committee.
“Episodes in Sexuality” will take place on March 10 to13 at 7:30 p.m. at the Dangle Theatre. Many professors offer extra credit for attending this performance.
UWG’s theatre company’s season ends in April with the production of Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming’s “Bat Boy: The Musical.” The musical was based on a tabloid news story of a half-bat, half-boy living in West Virginia. The performance will be the company’s first musical of the 2009-2010 run and will provide a quirky ending to the season.
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