Not only is WAVE Productions' A Room Embodied a love story like you've never seen before, it is also Shanley indoor plumbing like you've never seen it before.
For six months the play's adapter/director, Communication senior Atley Loughridge, has been crafting just how to create a stage "river," almost the same amount of time she spent tweaking her adaptation of Virginia Woolf's 1929 novel, A Room of One's Own. Her vision for creating a play from the novel has gone through many phases, but she says the river was one of the first things she knew it had to have. And the waterworks came together quite well - a metallic basin runs around and splits the small stage, creating a shiny twist on an otherwise drab stage.
The flowing water is the perfect embodiment of the play's themes: embracing creative powers and gender ideas. But let's back up.
A Room of One's Own is based on the premise that in order for a woman to write fiction, she must have 500 pounds and a room of her own -to focus and hone her thoughts as an art form, instead of self-expression.
Loughridge's adaptation plays on this idea, featuring the main character from the novel, Mary, as the narrator, as well as the author, Virginia Woolf - with scenes of her as an adult and child. The twist: The entire play takes place in Virginia Woolf's imagination, culminating in a love affair between Mary and Virginia. "It all works toward a synthesis of the two worlds," Loughridge says. "It is a love affair between two sides of the mind. It's a love story of ideas."
The complexities of the show are testament to the challenges and constraints women faced in Woolf's time. "This play is all about how physical strains on the body translate as strains on the mind," Loughridge says.
Watching the play promises to be a unique experience, and apparently, so was being part of the cast - which munches on an open box of Lucky Charms during downtime at their rehearsal, scattering around the trench that is soon to be filled with water.
Loughridge says she cast of nine students four months ago, long before she had solidified the characters and their deep personalities. Erika Rankin, a Communication sophomore, was cast as one role, and then it was changed into Virginia Woolf - as a 6-year-old. Playing a dynamic, intelligent youngster is a difficult balance. "You don't want to be a caricature, but you still want to grab the essence of a child," she says.
The narrator, Mary, is played by Communication sophomore Maite Alvarez, who echoes Rankin's difficulty in embracing such multi-faceted characters. "I thought (Mary) was just valiant, and she seemed to not really have an inner dimension," she says. But after delving further, Alvarez discovered that was only on the surface.
The topic is heavy, but don't let that discourage you. If you don't know anything about Virginia Woolf, or her room, don't fret. The stage is beautiful and simple, there is an exciting soundtrack and projections, and an enticing 75-minute run time. One act, lots of action.
A Room Embodied goes up at Shanley Pavilion tonight, Thursday, May 10 at 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, May 11 and 12, at 8 and 11 p.m. Tickets cost $5 at the door.4
Medill junior Deena Bustillo is the PLAY editor. She can be reached at d-bustillo@northwestern.edu.
Be the first to comment on this article!