According to playwright Alan Ayckbourn, "Laughter and seriousness can travel hand in hand ... in fact, one without the other can prove highly undesirable."
Dartmouth students have tried to capture both the wit and wisdom of Ayckbourn's work in their production of his play "Woman in Mind," which opens this Wednesday.
The play begins when Susan, a middle-aged woman, "steps on a garden rake and has a head injury that causes her to reexamine her life," said Alex Corriea '09, who plays Susan's daughter. When asked about the play's message, Michelle Cohen '08, who plays Susan, said, "You know the feeling when you realize you are being walked all over by others and it's not OK? That's what this play is basically about. It's about creating your own happiness and making the world you live in a happy place to be [no matter what the circumstances]."
Matt Cohn '08, who plays Susan's husband Gerald, takes a more cynical view of the play's meaning. "It's a critique of modern marriage and the death of love," he said. Cohen admits her character is "surrounded by others at all times" but always feels very alone. "Ayckbourn shows the lack of care taken with the people we spend our lives with," said Lily King '07, the play's student director.
"It's also pretty viciously funny," King said. "[Aykborne's plays] carry a serious message while you are laughing all the time. He has a very keen sense of humor and a very British sense of humor." In order to capture it, the cast decided to use British accents.
"It's been brutal," Cohn said when asked about learning the accent, blaming the large differences between the British accent and that of his native New York for his difficulty in mastering it. On the other hand, said Chris Barth '08, who plays Susan's brother Tony, "[Using an accent] helps to separate the character from who we are. It helps us get into character."
Perfecting their British long a's and remembering to drop their r's has only been one of many tasks for the cast during five weeks of rehearsal. "We are finding new things in the script constantly. It is a complex script; there is no one-dimensional character in the play," Cohen said. As a result, cast and crew are constantly gaining a deeper understanding of Ayckbourn's meaning. "You can say a line for weeks and weeks and one day you begin to understand the significance," said Robin McKechnie '08, the assistant director.
When asked about the rehearsal process, many cast members stressed that it has been a team effort. "Working with a director who is your peer adds a level of camaraderie. It makes it more of a collaborative effort," Cohn said. King agreed. "We have a common vocabulary because we all take the same acting classes [at Dartmouth]," she said. "Everyone jumps into it and it seems like much more of an ensemble creation."
King directed three one-act plays by Christopher Durang during Winter 2005 at Panarchy with the support of the Displaced Theater Company. This time, she said, "it has been really exciting to work with the support of the [Theater] department. It adds a level of professionalism and assists with the actors taking it seriously." The cast realizes this can become a problem when working with a student director. "With a student director, there is more opportunity for problems with respect; some things are taken for granted that would not be tolerated by a professional director," Cohen said.
This more relaxed atmosphere does not seem to have had a negative effect on the "Women in Mind" cast, however. "It helps that we get along," Barth said jokingly. King appreciates the effort put forth by her cast.
"There's nobody I'd rather direct than people interested in exploring the limits of their ability," she said.
Directing a Theater Department production also gave King the opportunity to work with designers on the set, lighting, and costumes. "I'm learning to interact with designers, to combine my ideas with theirs," she said. It has been especially exciting, King said, working with a brand new designer, Alex Araiza '09, who designed the sets for the production. "It's easy to forget in a professional atmosphere that we are also getting an education. It's been interesting watching [Araiza] learn [as she worked on the sets]," King said.
From studying the play's message and learning British accents to working with designers and crew members, the cast of "Women in Mind" has certainly kept themselves busy over the past five weeks.
For Barth, who comes to his first theater department production after working with the Casual Thursday improv group, it has been an eye-opening experience. "Everyone is more dedicated because so many people go into it behind the scenes," he said.
"Women in Mind" will run Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m. in the Bentley Theater.
