Mysteries... And Smaller Pieces

A spotlight shown upon eight pairs of shoes at center stage. The bodies of the shoes' former inhabitants were stacked in the darkness just a few feet away.

After crawling on hands and knees through the aisles of Moore Theatre screaming and crying, the 13 actors involved in the production of "Mysteries…And Smaller Pieces" died for over the hundredth time in the past month.

The dramatic death scene entitled "The Plague" ended the production with bodies being taken to their final resting place, the stage, as the lights went out.

Freshman Jessica Maginity said "The Plague" represents the most meaningful scene to her as it makes each actor ponder his or her mortality.

"You spend 20 minutes dying and you start to run out of things to do so you do the same things over and over and over until you start to believe it," Maginity said.

Kay Wood, a freshman actor, said she gains inspiration for her death scene from thinking about family members becoming ill or from the pain she has experienced in multiple knee surgeries. She said when the lights go down she finds peace after a painful internal struggle.

"Once I get stacked on the pile it just ends," Wood said.

Maginity said the emotional impact of acting through "The Plague" can cause emotional strain, so much so that after the cast's first rehearsal the ensemble exited the theatre in silence.

"‘The Plague' really messes you up," Maginity said.

Freshman Casseia Todd agreed that the impact of the acting can be quite dramatic.

"‘The Plague' is for all intensive purposes the Bubonic Plague," Todd said.

Wood has died in the laps of various audience members including friends and strangers alike. She said in each experience the scene has caused varying degrees of emotion in those involved.

"I die on people, just random people in the audience I don't know. I die in their laps at the end," Wood said. "I heard one person I died on just say, ‘Wow, that's really intense,' while my friend just laughed."

Director Tim Good said the intention of the direct interaction with audience members is essential in experimental theatre. He said the blurring the line of where exactly the stage ends and the audience begins forces people to reach out.

"It's an hour and a half invitation to just try to come out and reach out to other humans," Good said.

The actors agreed that audience members walk away with a different outlook after each performance.

"They get something. They at least get the feeling that we're trying to provoke," Todd said.

Wood said she hopes the ensemble's message comes across clearly in their production, especially as she takes her final breaths staring deeply into the eyes of people she has never met.

"We're trying to get people to actually get up and do something," Wood said.

Todd, another actor interested in fostering relations between the ensemble and the audience, said the message goes against conventions, but she encourages viewers to become active participants.

"We're kind of taught that we should sit quietly in a theatre and watch a play, but that's not really what this play is about," Todd said.

Wood agreed, adding, "We're breaking down that fourth wall."

For many audience members interaction came naturally. Over twenty to the stage with the cast to march in a circle and to hum along in "The Chord," a ten-minute harmony of assorted sounds produced by all those on stage.

A dramatic and moving experience for participants, "The Chord" offers an opportunity for everyone to act as instruments creating a sound experience unlike any other.

"It leaves you light-headed," Maginity said. "I'm kind of a skeptic so I sort of attribute it to I've been exhaling too much, but it's just a weird feeling that you get up there."

Freshman Kate Grimm also takes on her fair share of audience interaction in the presentation. Grimm begins the show at center stage under a bright spotlight. Clad in a Lion sweatshirt and an unmoving stare Grimm stands firm for over six minutes.

All the while laughter, whistles, tongue clicks and shouts of "Balls," and "This is Sparta" fill the air. Grimm remains unfazed.

Grimm said in order to distract herself from all the chaos surrounding her she creates visions in her head of the two lights directly ahead of her becoming the eyes of a bull or some other frightening creature. She focuses on taking deep breaths and remains calm.

"I create this whole situation in my head and then I bite my cheek ‘till it bleeds," Grimm said.

Grimm only broke character in one of over one hundred rehearsals. She endured being dressed in various costumes and having gum stuffed into her mouth by cast mates.

"You're allowed to do anything to me," Grimm said, but quickly reconsidered. "Well, you can't burn me."

Though the show has no set, costumes, characters or plot Good said audience members will undoubtedly be affected by the performance.

"Part of what the audience is going to feel when they walk out is, ‘What the heck was that?'" Good said.

Good said that once this question has passed the deeper meaning will continue to set in or at the very least the memories will confound them until they can determine what the show means.