Internationally acclaimed Czech artist Pavel Dobrusky wrote and directed "fly...," which is adapted from Luis Sepulveda's popular 1996 children's book, "The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly."
Originally published in Sepulveda's native Spanish, the story follows a lazy cat, Zorba, as he happens to encounter a dying seagull and becomes the unlikely caretaker of her unhatched chick. Instead of sunbathing on the porch all day long, Zorba must now raise the young seagull, Afortunada, and teach her to fly.
"I'm very fond of the story," George Neptune '10, who stars as Zorba, said. "Coming from an actor's perspective, it's interesting to see the different transformations each character undergoes, Zorba especially." After some time, Zorba "cares more [about Afortunada] than he might realize and doesn't want to let go."
Zorba's singular devotion to Afortunada is not unlike the actors' commitment to the production. For the majority of the cast, "fly..." is homework -- literally.
They are students enrolled in Theater 65: Drama in Performance, a three-part summer course offering students professional theater experience for academic credit. For the first component, students rehearse for six hours a day, six days a week. The experience is so consuming and intensive that the students spend most of their time together, on and offstage.
"Honestly, if there was just one person I didn't like or get along with, it would be hell," cast member Adrian Garcia '10 said.
Theater 65 actors have had the chance to participate in every aspect of production, from costuming and technical support to music.
According to Megan Rosen'10, who plays Afortunada, juggling several disciplines of production is unusual -- what is even stranger is that they've had a hand in the direction of the play as well. Because of Dobrusky's loose directorial style, rehearsals have been an exercise in trial and error.
"American directors come in with ideas mapped out and the actors follow them," Neptune said. "With Pavel, it's an explorative process. We're all discovering new things as we go along."
In one collaborative effort, the performers and director jointly re-imagined the character Secretario. Sepulveda originally wrote Secretario as a snobbish and uppity Italian cat, but actor David Mavricos '10 was more confident feigning a French accent. The new plan for the character pieced together input from all players, transforming Secretario into a self-satisfied, pretentious French cat.
Neptune admitted that Dobrusky's "ensemble approach" has been challenging, even frustrating. Ultimately, though, he said the hands-on experience will pay off, should he choose to enter the unforgiving world of professional theater.
The two other components of Theater 65 expose students to the real world of theater even more immediately. During the first two weeks of July, the theater students began collaborating with eleven East African artists-in-residence at Dartmouth, as part of the 2008 Summer Arts Festival: AFRICAS event, "Eti! East Africa Speaks!"
To facilitate artistic and cultural exchange, students participated in workshops, readings and performances with artists from Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania. Students say the insights and experiences of the East African artists were surprisingly impressive -- particularly considering that three of the artists worked on the Oscar-winning film "The Last King of Scotland" (2006).
"They came at just the right time," Neptune said. "We were starting to get bored with the 'fly...' routine and it was amazing to connect with all these amazing artists on the same level. We all became friends."
The final part of Theater 65 will commence once the curtain closes for "fly..." and the New York Theater Workshop arrives for its 17th annual summer residency at Dartmouth.
The three-week workshop gives students the chance to shadow individual artists. Students' duties may range from research to performing to making executive decisions in concert with the artists and management of the New York Theater Workshop. At the end of the three weeks, the mentors evaluate their proteges' performance. In the past, lucky students have received job and internship offers based upon their participation in the workshop.
"fly..." continues for a second week, with performances on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at the Hopkins Center box office or website and cost $3 for Dartmouth students, $6 for other students and $12 for the general public.
