Shepherd University’s Rude Mechanical and Renaissance Players debuted its 2019 season with three performances written by Shepherd creative writing students.
Charity, Cubes, and Caroline by Lena Nunez, an English and political science major, was performed Saturday, March 30. Charity, Cubes, and Caroline is a comedy about a woman’s struggle to save her son from a peculiar cult. The show opens with Tristero (Dylan Kontra) taking center stage to pitch his religion of Cubicism: the idea that you should live your life around all things cube. The way Charity, Cubes, and Caroline presents its arguments for joining this new religion in such a convincing way that it made me sway between support of the character’s ideals and dislike for them. The play is full of hilarious scenes, multiple twists, and an ending that had me crying from laughter.
Also on Friday was Harper and Laurel by Claudia McCarron, an English major. The play portrays a young girl’s uneasy dynamic with her stepmother after the sudden death of her father. Overall this was a moving and well-written play. The way the work switches between the past and the present is beautifully done without being confusing. It shows a modern-day relationship that is not normally represented and provides a realistic ending.
The third student-written play, Welcome to the Poetry Club by Andrea Monsma, an English and communications major, was performed Sunday, March 31. This show is a slice-of-life piece of the everyday happenings within a college poetry club. The main character, The President (Corey Mullen), is delightfully overdramatic, running her club like a dictatorship. Unlike the other two plays, this was an even mix between dramatic and comedic. The play captures why the characters not only write poetry, but why they joined a club. By the end of the play, I felt a bond between the characters so strong that it almost served as a promotional trailer for joining a club.
Future performances are as follows:
- Wednesday, April 3rd, 8:30 p.m.—Charity, Cubes, and Carolineand Herod and the Slaughter of the Innocents.
- Thursday, April 4th, 8:30 p.m.—Harper and Laureland Herod and the Slaughter of the Innocents.
- Friday, April 5th, 7:30 p.m.—Welcome to the Poetry Cluband Herod and the Slaughter of the Innocents.
- Saturday, April 6th, 7:30 p.m.—Herod and the Slaughter of the Innocentsfollowed by a panel discussion “Art and Political Protest.”
- Sunday, April 7th, 3:00 p.m.—Welcome to the Poetry Club; Charity, Cubes, and Caroline; and Harper and Laurelfollowed by a panel discussion “Page to Stage.”
Admission is $5 general public; $2 other students; and free for Shepherd University students with a valid Rambler ID, faculty, and staff.
For more information, contact Dr. Betty Ellzey (304 876-5208 or bellzey@shepherd.edu).