By Bianca Strzelczyk
The second installment of an on-going series chronicling the production of “Lower Depths” by the Northeastern Theatre Department.
It was 6:30 on a frigid Thursday night. From the outside, the Studio Theatre looks deserted — the doors were locked, the hallways quiet and dim. Once inside, however, the smell of sawdust and unfurnished wood filled the warm air and the dim lights flickered as the ceiling fans turned overhead.
The stage looked incomplete with an unfinished set of wooden stairs and platform. The ground was dusty and the arguments of the characters could be heard throughout the theatre.
They disagree about love, life and everything in between as they try to survive their dreadful situation. “It’s an ugly place,” said Mollie MacKenzie, a middler theatre major.
Though there may be problems amongst the characters on the set, the relationship between the actors in reality is the complete opposite.
“As a cast, we’ve been working really well together and haven’t come upon any particularly daunting obstacles,” said cast member and junior theatre major Mike Budwey. “But in the world of theatre, you never know what’s going to happen.”
In fact, their friendly relationship with one another is a problem the cast members have to overcome. “[The director] has been telling us that we are too nice to each other,” said cast member and freshman theatre major Angelica Rose Sirabella. “The characters in the play are supposed to be absolutely awful to one another, so we’re working on getting meaner.”
For the first two weeks of rehearsals, the actors read their lines from the script. Beginning on Monday, rehearsals got more serious as the actors have to go “off book,” meaning their lines have to be memorized.
“[The rehearsals are] going to start getting more intense now,” Sirabella said.
Different acts require different characters and the rotation of scenes continued for three hours as the actors went over their lines.
As the rehearsal continued, director Janet Bobcean periodically interrupted the actors to give them advice on how to make their characters more realistic, instructing them “Don’t face me … look at her,” or “Try to go this way around instead of across.”
With opening night less then a month away, there is a lot to do in a short amount of time and Bobcean is beginning to feel the pressure.
“I’m a little bit nervous when I think about it,” Bobcean said.
However, some members of the cast aren’t too concerned with the upcoming night.
“I’ve been in shows where we’ve had less preparation time than this,” Budwey said, “and so have a lot of other people in the cast, so I think we are used to the pressure.”
Beneath the Studio Theatre, in a space hidden from the public, lies the costume room. Throughout the room sewing machines, half-dressed mannequins and random pieces of clothing are sprawled about. There are three closets filled from floor to ceiling with accessories, such as wigs and hats, and costumes from all eras. Assistant Academic Specialist and costume designer Frances McSherry and students work on pulling together costumes from existing clothing for the play.
“I’m not making the outfits,” McSherry said. “This play does not require brand new clothing.”
The characters are poor and have pulled together all the rags and scraps they have for their clothing. McSherry sketches out her ideas, which she then shows to the director who either accepts or rejects the idea. She still has a lot to do before opening night.
Directly behind the stage, the four week set-building project is underway as students and actors help create the setting. The material required to build the set is sprawled throughout the backroom. On stage, students and actors can be heard hammering the wooden pieces into place throughout the day.
