As a senior fellow, Talene Monahon '13 spent her last year on campus writing "All In Good Fun," a one-woman play based on student life issues on campus. The play was recently accepted to the United Solo Theatre Festival in New York City this fall.
*AS: What inspired you to write the play?**##
AM: I wanted to develop a piece about some of the issues that had been controversial at Dartmouth like hazing, Greek life, gender relations and sexual assault. I didn't want to go in with an agenda. I interviewed over 40 members of the Dartmouth community and ended up using about 28 in the show itself. I wrote the script using direct quotes from these interviews.
*AS: Your play was recently accepted to United Solo Theatre Festival. How did that happen?**##
AM: I performed it on campus last spring and sort of off-handedly submitted it to this festival of one-person shows in New York. I was so excited when I found out I was accepted.That's where I'm doing my show this fall.
*AS: Can you speak to how you incorporated your interviews?**##
AM: My work is based off the work of an African-American actress named Anna Deavere-Smith. She, along with other theater groups, perform this kind of interview-based theater called docu-theater.' I'm very much modeling my work off hers. I like the idea of taking an event that is happened and interrogating people about it.
*AS: How was the play received on campus?**##
AM: It was really well attended in the spring. During the last performance, we even had to turn a lot of people away. I received many emails afterwards from students and community members who related to and were fascinated by the play. People took a lot of different things from the show I think this was partially colored by their own experiences at Dartmouth. Some people thought it was funny or sad or confusing. I think that I like taking things that are complex and have lots of different sides to them and putting them up on the stage.
*AS: What kind of impact did you hope the play would have?**##
AM: It's not the kind of play that is going to change a policy, it's more thought-provoking.
You get to see many people together at once that you normally wouldn't.
*AS: Where do you see this play going in the future?**##
AM: I've been performing "All in Good Fun" a fair amount in the fall at different schools, Dartmouth alumni clubs and in New York. I think this play has a little bit of a future.
*AS: And where do you see yourself in the future?**##
AM: I want to work as an actress and as a solo performer and play developer. I definitely would be interested in creating another piece, and I think it would be fun to work with other people on something that would be relatable to a larger or different audience. I am also interested in discussing other topics, including eating disorders and mental illness. I don't have any concrete plans now.
*AS: How long have you been interested in acting?**##
AM: I have been acting in regional and community theaters since I was a little kid, and I also did a lot of singing. I had an amazing high school drama teacher and did an independent study with him on with Deveare-Smith's work. As early as senior year in high school, I thought I had a future in acting and was specifically interested in docu-theater. I adore the theater department at Dartmouth. Carol Dunn is one of theater professors who mentored me and is like a second mother.
Also, theater professor Peter Hackett encouraged me to pursue interview-based theater. I had such a theatrically rich time at Dartmouth!
