Theatre Arts Professor Lanny Potts was selected recently as the recipient of a 2022 Wilde Award for Best Lighting as a result of his work in the 2021 Farmers Alley Theatre production of “Bright Star.” Photo by Kat Mumma.
A Kalamazoo College faculty member is receiving accolades from a Michigan theatre organization for the fifth time in his career. Theatre Arts Professor Lanny Potts was selected recently as the recipient of a 2022 Wilde Award for Best Lighting as a result of his work in the 2021 Farmers Alley Theatre production of Bright Star, a musical written and composed by actor, comedian and songwriter Steve Martin and songwriter Edie Brickell.
Wilde Awards are distributed through EncoreMichigan.com, a web-based publication focusing on the state’s professional theater industry, highlighting the top productions, actors, artists, designers, writers and technicians. Potts previously earned Wilde Best Lighting honors through his work at Farmers Alley Theatre in productions such as The Light in the Piazza in 2012 and Bridges of Madison County in 2018.
In Bright Star, a literary editor, Alice Murphy, meets a young soldier, Bill Cane, who is just home from World War II. Her flashbacks to the 1920s tell the audience about 16-year-old Alice meeting Jimmy Ray Dobbs and giving birth to a son. The love story, inspired by real events and set in the American South, provided Potts and the Farmers Alley Theatre team with some distinctive challenges of how to move the story forward with lighting and other effects.
“Working closely with the brilliant Director Kathy Mulay, every scenic transition was created with lighting which then constantly moved until the downbeat of the next music, scenic or narrative moment,” Potts said. “Picture slowly moving tree leaves. In every transition moment, they would create an almost ripple effect, like wind through the leaves, that continued until the music resolved or carried us through to the next narrative moment. Having the lights breathe the music of each transition was an approach that allowed the team to seamlessly meld action, dialogue, music, blocking and projections in a way that helped the audience understand that our narrative was a constantly moving story.”
Bright Star was produced at Farmers Alley Theatre from June 23-July 10, 2021, qualifying Potts— a professional designer and consultant—for this year’s honor. His work has also included international lighting and production design; national tour designs for opera and dance; and regional designs for opera, modern dance, ballet, drama and corporate events.
Potts has presented portfolios of his work at regional conferences, worked at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and received many professional awards including a Michigan Governor’s Commendation, a design commendation from the John F. Kennedy Center (Fun Home) and Atlanta Critic’s Choice awards for his design work for the Atlanta premier of A Few Good Men. But each opportunity inspires Potts for what he will do with the next one.
“When I think about having the privilege of doing what I love, I don’t think about a particular show, production or artistic team,” Potts said. “I do have warm fuzzies when I reflect upon some great work accomplished collaboratively with so many great artists. But I think I’m a looking-forward kind of person, where one scenic idea, one costume idea or one directing idea inspires a unique new direction for the artistic team. There is no greater gift than working with talented artists who care about the work as much as you do, who will challenge your own ideas, and inspire you to pursue new ones. I also think the very nature of light requires us to look forward and not dwell upon past work. Lighting is so ephemeral, so in the moment, that once a production is complete, I’m ready for the next artistic team I get to work with, the next production I get to work upon, the next set of problems we get to resolve, the next story to be told.”
Kalamazoo College’s Festival Playhouse will stage William Shakespeare’s “Othello” beginning Thursday, November 3.
Kalamazoo College’s Festival Playhouse will examine an old tragedy through a modern lens when it stages William Shakespeare’s Othello from Thursday, November 3–Sunday, November 6 at the Nelda K. Balch Playhouse, 129 Thompson St.
In the play, the character Iago has served as a soldier and trusted ensign, fighting alongside Othello, the Moor of Venice, for many years. However, he grows angry about being passed over for a promotion and plots to take revenge against his general, Othello. Iago tricks Othello into believing that his wife, Desdemona, is unfaithful. That stirs Othello’s jealousy, leading him to kill Desdemona and then himself.
The production demonstrates the importance of communication, trust and respect, and how they relate to mental well-being while lifting the curtain on the Playhouse’s 59th season under the theme of Mental Health Matters.
“Throughout the show, we explore how Iago’s influence and being surrounded by racism affects Othello’s mental health,” said Meaghan Kelly ’23, who is working as the play’s dramaturg. As the dramaturg, Kelly researched the historical topics and time periods addressed in the play to assist Director Ren Pruis, a K professor of theatre arts, in teaching the actors about the characters and the play’s settings.
“Racism at the time this show was written is incredibly significant. Shakespeare bases his characterization of Othello on a book written by a European author who had just done a tour of Africa,” Kelly said. “This author implies that all African people are brave and noble, but very jealous, which almost exactly describes Othello. We’re always looking to take on challenging theatre like this and we think there’s a lot to learn from it.”
Kelly also designed an informational display for the Playhouse’s lobby, something that she hopes will make Shakespeare’s ideas understandable.
“I find that a lot of the struggle with Shakespeare comes with reading his plays when it’s naturally meant to be seen and heard,” Kelly said. “My lobby display will feature the actors and their roles along with a list of vocabulary that’s used in the play. That’s one of the benefits to having a dramaturg in college theater. It will help make the language more accessible.”
“Othello” dramaturg Meaghan Kelly ’23
Guest Artist Xavier Bolden, a Western Michigan University alumnus, will play Othello. Bolden has been involved with community theatre since he was about 10 years old, performing at the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre, in addition to Kalamazoo Public Schools. He also was an extra on episodes of the TV shows Bones and No Ordinary Family.
“As far as acting is concerned, I’ve loved dramatic or theatrical plays that lend a deeper message,” Bolden said. “With how (the Playhouse) is dealing with mental health issues and the overwhelming emotional side of the tragedy in Othello and the loss with it, I hope to rise to the occasion with the role. From watching the rehearsals when I’m not on stage and seeing what we’ve accomplished with lighting and sound, all credit goes to the other actors and everyone who has brought in their talents. Everybody has grown in a tremendous way. The students have had midterms in the middle of rehearsing a 146-page play. That’s nothing short of incredible. It’s going to be an amazing production.”
Sean Gates ’23 and Sedona Coleman ‘23 will perform as Iago and Desdemona respectively. Other actors include Evan Barker ’26 as Cassio, Raven Montagna ’25 as Roderigo and Max Wright ’26 as Lodovico.
The play will be staged at 7:30 p.m. from November 3–November 5, and at 2 p.m. November 6. Tickets are available online or by calling the Festival Playhouse at 269.337.7333. Friday’s show will also be livestreamed. Purchase a livestream pass online. Please note that masks and proof of COVID-19 vaccinations are required to attend.
Rebecca Chan ’22 will spend a year in Taiwan through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program
Four recent alumni of Kalamazoo College are receiving one of the highest honors the federal government provides in regard to scholarship and international exchange, as selectees for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.
Rebecca Chan ’22, Libby Burton ’22, Matthew Flotemersch ’20 and Kiernan Dean-Hall ’22 are among about 1,900 students, artists and young professionals who will represent the U.S. in about 140 countries for one academic year.
Chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential, students and recent alumni participate in the English Teaching Assistant (ETA) program, which places English-teaching assistants in primary and secondary schools or universities overseas.
Since its inception in 1946, Fulbright has provided more than 380,000 participants with opportunities to exchange ideas and contribute to solutions to shared international concerns. The program is funded by an annual appropriation from Congress to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and managed through the U.S. Department of State.
Libby Burton ’22 will return to Germany for one academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.
K consistently has been identified in recent years as one of the country’s top-producing Fulbright small colleges. Here’s what K’s representatives plan to do abroad.
Rebecca Chan ’22
Chan, a theatre arts major at K, finished her degree requirements in winter 2022, allowing her to study abroad in Strabourg, France, this spring. As a Fulbright scholar, she will visit Taiwan.
“I was interested in Taiwan specifically because my paternal grandfather spent some years on the island as he left mainland China in the 1940s and later came to America,” Chan said. “Some of his siblings stayed in Taiwan and raised their families there, so at every family reunion, we discuss Taiwanese history, culture and politics. I’m interested in experiencing Taiwan for myself and connecting with my East Asian heritage.”
Chan will make her language skills her primary focus while she’s overseas.
“I took two years of Mandarin Chinese at K, and I’m glad to have the opportunity to use that language abroad,” she said. “I’d also like to better understand Taiwan’s complex history of colonization by various European and Asian nations. Because of my family’s history, I have received only a very one-sided account of the relationship between Taiwan and China and the debate over Taiwanese independence. Being there, talking to locals, and working in the schools will give me a much richer understanding of Taiwanese identity.”
Matthew Flotemersch ’20 has earned a Fulbright for a second time. He will spend the upcoming academic year in Innsbruck, Austria.
Libby Burton ’22
Burton participated in study abroad as a senior in Erlangen, Germany, and will return to Germany as a Fulbright scholar, seeking an opportunity share her knowledge of philosophy and the humanities.
“The Fulbright will be a wonderful way for me to gain experience in the field and prepare me for graduate programs,” Burton said. “I also have a particular interest in German philosophy, so studying German has helped my understanding of the books I read. The program makes sense for me because I can practice German, deepen my understanding in my fields of interest, and gain experience as an educator.”
Matthew Flotemersch ’20
Flotemersch, a German major and philosophy minor at K, had a formative year of study abroad in Erlangen, Germany, in 2019 and was accepted into Fulbright’s English Teaching Assistant program in Hamburg, Germany, in 2020.
Kiernan Dean-Hall ’22 will spend a year in Germany on a Fulbright in the English Teaching Assistantship program.
The Hamburg program was pushed back a year because of COVID-19, yet still provided a positive experience he finished this spring, leading to yet another opportunity as he will represent the U.S. this year in Innsbruck, Austria.
Flotemersch said he hopes to adjust to regional dialects, explore the country by train, ski and settle on a graduate program he will begin in 2023 while he’s in Austria.
Kiernan Dean-Hall ’22
Dean-Hall—a chemistry and German major, and physics and philosophy minor with a concentration in film and media studies—was among the K seniors who studied abroad in Erlangen, Germany, for the fall 2021 and winter 2022 terms. He will return to Germany on a Fulbright in the English Teaching Assistantship program.
“I sought a Fulbright because it sounded interesting, and like a good opportunity to broaden my horizons,” Dean-Hall said. “I expect to benefit from the lived experience of cultural exchange.”
Alix Reynolds ’11, an account manager for Lititz, Pennsylvania-based ATOMIC, had a hand in transforming the field at Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles into a sparkling nightscape for the Super Bowl halftime show.
A Kalamazoo College alumna was among the most important people behind the planning of one of the most acclaimed Super Bowl halftime shows to date when the Los Angeles Rams met the Cincinnati Bengals in February.
Alix Reynolds ’11, an account manager for entertainment company ATOMIC, had a hand in transforming the field at Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles into a sparkling nightscape, duplicating a scene from Compton, California, as it set the stage for musicians Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent at the National Football League’s championship game.
The performers entertained millions of people between those watching at the game and those spread out at sites around the world, making Reynolds’ responsibilities significant.
Alix Reynolds ’11 poses with some of the nine-person ATOMIC on-site team ahead of the Super Bowl halftime show. Pictured are Reynolds (from left), Project Manager James Rogers, Road Carpenter Jeremy Yunkin and LED Technician Alex Thomas.
“Something like the Super Bowl halftime show is a high-risk project, especially when it involves so much technology,” Reynolds said. “There’s going to be 100 million people watching regardless of whether it succeeds. There’s always a lot of stress and anxiety, but ultimately, a really good team with the resources and know-how can make it safer with smart decisions and a lot of redundancy built into the system, which is what we had.”
Since majoring in theatre arts at K and completing her master’s degree in technical design and production at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, formerly the Yale School of Drama, Reynolds has become one of the first people who organizations and their planners speak to when they contact ATOMIC. The company’s work includes set construction and project planning for displays ranging from simple trade show booths to glitzy affairs such as World Wrestling Entertainment’s signature event, WrestleMania.
“The first thing that usually happens for me is a client will call, whether it’s the Super Bowl or any other job, and sometimes they know exactly what they want,” Reynolds said. “Sometimes they just have an idea of what they want to do. I’ll ask some follow-up questions and work with a project manager to figure out how much it might cost us to build and how much we should sell it for. It’s a lot of translation of taking artistic intention, taking the client’s budget and expectations, and then figuring out how we can make the client’s dreams come true.”
For Super Bowl LVI, Reynolds’ first contact was Bruce Rodgers, a production designer through the NFL and a long-standing ATOMIC client. Rodgers has been in charge of more than a dozen Super Bowl halftime shows with celebrated performers such as Prince, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira and Bruno Mars.
Despite the massive team effort that the scenery’s development required, some might be surprised to know that Rodgers didn’t need to reach out to Reynolds and ATOMIC, which served as the show’s custom fabrication shop, until September 2021. At that point, the direction from Es Devlin, a stage designer and one of Dr. Dre’s representatives, came through Rodgers. That direction was to show an aerial image of the Compton night sky with a plethora of little lights, or “nodes,” that could all be individually controlled.
Based on that, Reynolds and her teammates got to work while asking questions such as “How much will it cost to cover the entire football field with fabric?”, “When will it be necessary to buy the raw materials and receive the reference images for the final product?” and “How will all the little lights work together?” Guided by the answers to those questions and others, and while maintaining contact with Rodgers and Devlin, ATOMIC completed the set-building process at Rock Lititz, a campus that several companies in the live-event industry share in Lititz. With services ranging from design to engineering and manufacturing, professionals there collaborate across companies to plan a variety of events and experiences.
“Some locals get confused as to whether Rock Lititz is a company or a place,” Reynolds said. “I say it’s both. You’ve got ATOMIC, obviously, you’ve got Clair Global which does audio for big rock tours; TAIT, which does automation for those same tours among other things; and there are smaller companies. There’s a pyrotechnics company, there’s a video company and a virtual reality company. It’s all in this tiny town.”
When fabrication was finished, a group of semitrucks drove the stage’s parts and sections to Los Angeles, first to a practice site, and then to Sofi Stadium, where dozens assembled the pieces.
“For every performer you saw on the halftime show there were probably over 100 people working behind the scenes,” Reynolds said. “Each section of the stage buildings, which were built to look like known Compton hot spots by our fellow fabrication shop All Access, split into two parts, and every half-section was pushed onto the field by 12 to 15 people. We also had people with carts that carried our big and heavy field cover to say nothing of the people back at the shop who programmed the lighting and the video.”
All of their jobs had delicate timings to observe, not only at halftime, but throughout the Super Bowl.
“Right at kickoff is when everyone started coming down into the tunnels that run the full perimeter around the field, where all the scenery was stored with all the lighting and the huge speakers,” Reynolds said. “At the end of the first quarter, we started lining up. At halftime, we knew we had eight minutes to get on the field during the commercial break and set it up.”
As the performance began, organizers had one of their few hiccups because the first half ended about 20 minutes sooner than they had planned. With the sun higher in the sky and Sofi Stadium having a glass roof, the on-stage lights were difficult to see at first. Regardless, Reynolds and her ATOMIC colleagues were happy with the end results.
“We did that balancing act of asking, ‘What are the things that could go wrong,’ and we set ourselves up for success,” she said. “In the end, it all worked perfectly on game day and it looked awesome. By the end of the show, you could really start seeing the lights. It was really easy to forget that I was standing on a football field.”
Reynolds has about seven or eight smaller projects in the works for the rest of 2022 at sites from New York to Los Angeles including an awards ceremony for an undisclosed nonprofit organization. Yet despite not being a football fan, Reynolds hopes to attend the Super Bowl again.
“I couldn’t see the first half of the game because we were in the tunnels, and we were pulling everything off the field in the second half while trying to get away before the game ended,” she said. “We then got stuck in traffic for about four hours, but the experience was pretty incredible. The first time I walked on the field and through one of those tunnels, my mouth fell open. I consider myself to be level-headed and pretty unflappable, but when I heard the roar of the crowd, I got butterflies and chills. And that was just from the people who were at the stadium, to say nothing of the millions watching online or on TV. It was an amazing experience.”
Assistant Professor Quincy Thomas talks about what it means to take part in art that reflects and celebrates your experiences, and how the theatre department is working to create a safe space for all students.
Spring break is just around the corner and will be quickly followed by casting for the last show in the Festival Playhouse at Kalamazoo College’s 58th season, themed “Black is Beautiful: An Ode to Black Life, Love and Strength.”
Auditions for Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, March 29 and 30. Ten students of Color are needed to tell this coming-of-age story of a young gay man in the Louisiana projects days before Hurricane Katrina strikes.
Assistant Professor Quincy Thomas talks about Marcus, what it means to take part in art that reflects and celebrates your experiences, and how the theatre department is working to create a safe space for all students.
Q: What can you tell me about the play Marcus and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney?
This play is really powerful. It’s smart, it’s funny, it’s about sexual identity and personal identity and tradition and family. McCraney’s voice is so multidimensional and new and fresh and he is very much about poetry, the beauty of the voice and music, lyricism. He does all of this to create a space for voices that have historically been silenced or pushed to the margins. This is the story of a young boy right before Hurricane Katrina, and his community and the way that shifts, and his own sexual identity and personal identity. It’s a story many Black men have dealt with, particularly figuring out your identity in our country. But it’s a story many people have not heard or do not know because it’s not a traditional Eurocentric story. For me as a Black man and as a father, the story of young men coming of age in our country is so important.
Q: What do you know about director Anthony Hamilton?
I know he has connections to the Kalamazoo arts community. He is another one of those young, bright voices. I believe he’s going to be able to capture the nuance and the poetic power of this piece. He will not only do this story justice, but also teach our community that is predominantly white about these kinds of stories.
Q: What is important about this story? Why is this a story that needs to be told here?
On a broader platform, Black stories need to be told. Art is the way we look at the world and the culture we’re in. If you want to know what’s important to a community, all you have to do is look at the art they create. When you do not see yourself in those things, that tells you that you are not important to that culture. Traditionally, theatre has been a white pastime, it’s been very Eurocentric. Despite the progress we’ve made, and how far we’ve come, theatre is still very, very white. Without the presence of Black people and people of Color in an artistic culture, not only are you saying something to the people who are absent, you’re saying something to the people who consume that art about who is important.
Black people need to see themselves on stage. It’s also important to non-Black audiences being able to see the world and culture without stereotypes. There are still so many aspects of the Black experience that people don’t know, that people have never seen and that shapes the ways in which Black people are perceived and interacted with in the world.
Specifically, this is an important story to tell on a college campus because it’s the coming-of-age story of a person trying to figure out who they are and what it means to be a man. The kind of people we need to be, who we want to be, the things we might be afraid to embrace because of cultural pressure. Those are things students are grappling with. Who am I now? I’m not the person I was. Who am I becoming?
We don’t have a shortage of coming-of-age stories. There are a lot of these stories about white people. Where are those beautiful stories about Black joy and heritage and history and legacy? Where are those stories that tell a Black person, this is who you are, this is your past; you may need to challenge that, you may need to muddy that, you may need to change that. Who do you need to be for your community and for yourself?
Q: What is the value of telling Black stories in the context of theatre?
One of the challenges to any theatre right now that wants to do diversity, equity and inclusion work is that we have to remember that it is not work people are used to seeing, particularly in a sustained fashion. We all need to create a new culture where people of every race, color and creed say, this is theatre for everyone. We are not at the place yet where Black actors trust that those shows are going to be handled in the right way, cast in the right way, not told from a Eurocentric lens. We have to establish trust in our community so that BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and people of Color] actors, BIPOC crew, BIPOC stage managers feel welcome. That has not happened yet. We need to continue telling those stories whether we have trouble casting them or not. That is anti-racism work and that doesn’t stop. As a Black artist, there have been plenty of times where I haven’t auditioned because I know that I’m going to read to a bunch of white directors, words written by a white person, for a role intended for a white person. If I’m being cast for diversity clout, I may not go. If I feel like they just want me because it’s February, I’m not interested in that. It’s not enough to just do a play. We have to create a culture.
I wholeheartedly believe the K theatre arts department has the desire to make change happen. That means we’re going to have moments like this. This is the season of Black joy. We need more than a season, but the cool thing is, when we sit down and talk about the future, next year, we’re talking about shows about people of Color. We’re going to continue to do shows about people of Color. We’re going to tell those stories. We’re going to do it beyond a season of Black joy. And that is the work that needs to be done. We’re not just interested in putting non-white actors on stage. We also want to get more BIPOC designers, BIPOC crew, BIPOC costume designers. If you’re a Black woman in a play, who’s doing your hair? Who knows how to light you? Skin tones are different, being lit on stage is different. These are things a lot of people don’t consider, what it means to put a Black body on stage. This department is looking to understand all those things.
We are committed to creating change and theatre that is proactive and for everybody.
Q: What do you see as the value of the experience for students?
It is more than getting up on stage and saying lines. Experiential learning is very important at K and the things you learn when you’re involved in a production translate to all kinds of different jobs. Public speaking, textual analysis, team building, communication, time management are all valuable lessons learned in a production process. If you are a student of Color, you more than likely have not had that many opportunities to create art that looks like you, to partake in art that speaks to who you are. Anytime you get to create art, it’s a privilege. So rarely do students of Color get an opportunity to create art for them, art that talks about their world, their trauma, their pain, to go through the process that enables you to give the world a view into the culture and community that is a part of your life and is your identity. When you’re in college, you may or may not have that opportunity. After college, the opportunity to do that kind of work dwindles dramatically. An opportunity to have a voice, to be heard, to have that voice guided by a fantastic director who understands Black art. The opportunity as a person of Color to be able to tell your story, showcase your identity, while being directed by a person who has walked a version of that walk, that is an opportunity you may never have again in your entire life. That is an opportunity you jump at, particularly if you care about creating art that makes a difference.
Q: In your experience, why don’t many Black students get involved in theatre at K?
I believe it is wholly, singularly about trust. People of Color in theatre, unless they’re coming from a historically Black institution, all have horror stories about the way they’ve been treated in costume shops, in makeup chairs, while their hair is getting done. A lot of university theatre departments will talk a big game and not follow up. For Black students in my experience, reluctance to audition generally comes down to, “I would love to do that play but I don’t want to be mistreated.”
I personally will do everything in my power to ensure they are supported and feel safe. I can’t speak to how it was before, but I personally am committed to doing the work to ensure that Black artists are safe in our spaces. And if something happens that they are not, it will be handled. If students speak up, report, they will be supported. We can’t get the work done if students are being mistreated.
Q: What would you say to Black students about this opportunity?
I know this has happened to you, I understand the fear that you have in doing the thing, but I promise you that we’ll keep you safe. You will have a voice. This is a collaborative process.
We can have all the great intentions in the world, but if we are not creating the space, then students can’t fill the space. I’m committed to creating spaces for these students that are better than they’ve been for me. There’s not a reality where I’m going to allow any student to be mistreated in our department. It’s personal for me. They have my word, and if something goes down, I would involve myself. You have to protect these students, and traditionally, education has not done a very good job of it. It’s not students’ responsibility to create safe spaces. It’s our responsibility.
Q: Why should Black students audition for this show?
There’s a risk. There’s a gamble in auditioning. It’s not easy work, but when you are an artist of Color and you actually get to do the thing … when you have a story about people of Color and you have artists of Color and directors of Color, that personally affects you, changes you. You come out the other end of that process a person who understands their own world and the larger world in a better way. Theatre is the world through a particular lens. When that lens looks like you, there is something remarkably empowering about that. When there are people dedicated to telling important stories about people like you, that is healing, affirming, life changing, even if you only do one show. There are shared languages, shared moments, moments of trauma only the cast and director you are with are going to understand. You will come out the other end of it feeling empowered, feeling you have been heard, your voice matters.
Feeling you’re not just screaming into the void is very important. It is a wholly valuable experience. It’s never going to be a perfect experience, because there isn’t any such thing, but it is going to be invaluable.
Auditions for Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet
Written by playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney
Directed by Anthony Hamilton
Festival Playhouse at Kalamazoo College (at the back of the Light Fine Arts building, near Dow)
Casting 10 students of Color
Tuesday and Wednesday, March 29 and 30, at 7 p.m. Please arrive by 6:45 to fill out an audition form.
Callbacks will be Thursday, March 31, and the show will run May 12-15.
Kevin Renn is the playwright behind “BLACKS+PHATS,” running Thursday through Sunday at the Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College.
Characters such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Michael Jackson and members of the Black Panther Party will help the Festival Playhouse at Kalamazoo College address themes such as racial stereotypes, beauty ideals and relationships in a staged reading of a comedy coming this week.
Kevin Renn, a playwright from New York City, will be among those observing his latest work, BLACKS+PHATS, a show that he has designed to give Black people and full-bodied people the last laugh at the end of the day as it premieres Thursday and runs through Sunday.
“I was always horrifyingly fascinated with stereotypes, how people see others in certain ways, and how that affects society,” Renn said. “I wanted to take these stereotypes along with people’s biases, and flip them on their head or stretch them to the ridiculous to point out to people how insane they are.”
Assistant Professor of Theatre Quincy Thomas will be one of the actors featured in “BLACKS+PHATS” at the Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College.
Renn has written essays for the New York Times and is known for productions such as Showcase: A Rehearsal Musical, which details a challenging final practice session for a group of theatre students the night before a college showcase performance; Mulatto Boy, about the only student of color at a private school where he runs for student body president; and Jungle Juice, addressing six friends who celebrate their college graduation and end up confronting their uncertain futures and a troubling secret. BLACKS+PHATS, however, focuses on the similar ostracism and isolation both Black people and full-bodied people face and how they can help each other.
“When I think about the heart of this play, it is a stripping down of everything to a common core,” Renn said. “It’s children. It’s this idea that the fat kids get picked on and bullied a lot. I saw that growing up. I also understand what it means to be a Black kid in a white space and be picked on, bullied and ostracized in that way. When you strip it down to that, that is the simplest element in which they can connect. It’s how they feel left out and pushed aside, and in the manner that they’re pushed aside, they find each other. They can then find strength in each other to lift and build up each other.”
Assistant Professor of Theatre Quincy Thomas takes on multiple roles within the BLACKS+PHATS vignettes.
“Theatre is a space where we see the world through different lenses,” Thomas said. “I would hope that the audience walks away from this understanding the insidious ways in which popular culture, the media and even movies have marginalized and pushed blackness to the outskirts of society, the outskirts of our culture, particularly in the areas of honest representation. I hope the audience walks away understanding the ways in which the representation of blackness has been wrongfully shaped, formed and monetized.”
Tickets for BLACKS+PHATS, which is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday–Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, are available online. The Thursday production includes an audience talkback after the show with Renn. Tickets for adults are $15, seniors $10 and students $5. Kalamazoo College students, faculty and staff are admitted free. Please note that proof of vaccination and masks are required for admittance to the theatre.
“The coolest thing about this production is that it’s a new work,” Thomas said. “The playwright has a young, vibrant, wise voice, and it’s an honor to deliver his message. It’s really exciting to spend time with him and talk with him about his motivations and his process.”
Kevin Renn will conduct an open-to-the public discussion regarding his experiences as a Black playwright at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 22, at the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, 205 Monroe St.
A playwright from New York City will conduct a free and open-to-the-public community discussion at Kalamazoo College days before his latest show, Blacks+Phats, is presented at K’s Festival Playhouse.
Kevin Renn will discuss his experiences as a Black playwright at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 22, at the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, 205 Monroe St. Renn is known for productions such as Showcase: A Musical Rehearsal, which details a challenging final practice session for a group of theatre students the night before a performance; Mulatto Boy, about the only student of color at a private school where he runs for student body president; and Jungle Juice, addressing six friends who celebrate their college graduation and end up confronting their uncertain futures and a troubling secret.
Blacks+Phats uses characters such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the Black Panther Party and Michael Jackson to take a satirical look at Black cultural issues, body image, fetishism and their representation in modern society. The play will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, February 24–Saturday, February 26; and at 2 p.m. Sunday, February 27, at the Festival Playhouse, 129 Thompson St.
Tickets for Blacks+Phats are available through the Festival Playhouse online box office. Adults are $15, seniors $10 and students $5. K students, faculty and staff are admitted for free. The Thursday production includes a talkback session with Renn and Director Janai Lashon. Please note the play includes potentially triggering references to sexual assault and eating disorders, and masks and proof of COVID-19 vaccinations are required for admittance to the theatre.
For more information on the play and the Festival Playhouse, visit its website at festivalplayhouse.kzoo.edu.
Matthew Swarthout ’22 will present “Acting Shakespeare,” his own play adapted from Sir Ian McKellen’s production of the same name, this Thursday–Sunday at the Dungeon Theatre, 139 Thompson St.
If you desire an appreciation for the works of William Shakespeare yet find his plays challenging, you’ll want to attend a show coming this week to Kalamazoo College. Matthew Swarthout ’22 will present his self-written senior integrated project (SIP), a play titled Acting Shakespeare, adapted from Sir Ian McKellen’s production of the same name, this Thursday–Sunday at the Dungeon Theatre, 139 Thompson St.
The original production featured McKellen alone on stage with no props or scenery, performing monologues from Shakespeare’s work, and discussing some of his plays. McKellen first performed it in 1980, and a 1984 Broadway engagement earned him the Drama Desk Award for an Outstanding One-Person Show and a Tony Award nomination.
This version will encompass both Swarthout’s and McKellen’s insight into Shakespeare’s plays, featuring monologues and scenes from plays such as Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, Macbeth, Henry the Fourth Part One and Henry the Fifth.
“This is the kind of Shakespeare show for people who don’t know Shakespeare,” Swarthout said. “I can talk in my 2022 language, which everyone can understand, and then I can shift into Shakespearean language and say, ‘This is what Shakespeare meant by this.’ It’s like a sampler of plays. You’ve got a comedy, a tragedy, a history and you can decide for yourself if you enjoy Shakespeare enough to see more of his plays.”
Matthew Swarthout ’22 offers his insights into William Shakespeare’s plays in “Acting Shakespeare,” coming this week to the Dungeon Theatre at Kalamazoo College.
Swarthout first developed his appreciation for Shakespeare as a young child when he saw As You Like It at the Stratford Festival in Canada. He later was drawn to K as he found the liberal arts could empower him to double major in biology and theatre. Since, Swarthout has performed in several Festival Playhouse shows with roles including the comical character Sir Andrew in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, and Buzz Windrip, a politician who unexpectedly wins the U.S. presidency in It Can’t Happen Here, a play based on Sinclair Lewis’ 1935 satire of what could happen if Fascism spreads to the United States.
“I’ve had a lot of freedom at K with directors who really like to see some big, expressive characters, and that’s the kind of role I’m often cast into,” Swarthout said. “Even for Acting Shakespeare, I change things around one day and try something completely different the next day to see what works. It’s nice to see what goes wrong in order to see what’s going to go right.”
“Acting Shakespeare” will encompass plays such as “Romeo and Juliet,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Hamlet,” “Macbeth,” “Henry the Fourth Part One” and “Henry the Fifth.”
That freedom takes on more complexity in preparing for Acting Shakespeare as Swarthout serves as both actor and director. He listens to recordings of himself reciting the play while snowboarding for memorization purposes in addition to maintaining regular rehearsals.
“There’s a challenge in looking at yourself with such a critical eye,” he said. “Usually as an actor, you’re doing your best and then it’s up to the director to say, ‘You could improve upon this.’ But since I’m directing myself, I’ve had rehearsals where I go over about three lines in 45 minutes. It’s hard to separate the director from the actor.”
In additional theatre pursuits, Swarthout participated in the New York Arts Program, a study away opportunity that places students from Great Lakes College Association (GLCA) affiliated schools in Broadway and off-Broadway theatre organizations, opera houses, dance companies, publishing houses, literary agencies and music performance venues. Swarthout worked at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, finishing just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the city. An adviser told him not to expect an opportunity to act on stage while there, as most of the acting opportunities go to New York University students. However, his talents enabled him to accept the role of Underling in a production of The Drowsy Chaperone, a parody of American musical comedies of the 1920s.
“That was probably the best experience I had in New York just because I felt like I was living there as a working actor,” Swarthout said. “I had my classes, I had my job and then I had the gig, which was really fantastic.”
Swarthout is sending out audition tapes to adapt to theatre’s current virtual landscape in the hopes of one day returning to the East Coast and eventually New York after graduation. In the meantime, he’s excited to think of how his audiences could develop an interest in Shakespeare as a result of his performances. Tickets for Acting Shakespeare, which is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday–Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, are available online. Kalamazoo College students, faculty and staff are admitted free. Tickets for the general public are $5. Please note that proof of vaccination and masks are required for admittance to the theatre.
“People should enjoy Shakespeare and keep Shakespeare alive, not for the history of it, but what we can do with it,” Swarthout said. “We can change its meaning and interpret it in so many ways to get a point across. If you’re trying to have a theatre season that’s focused on anti-racism or has some themes around homophobia, for example, you can use a Shakespeare show to bridge gaps of understanding. Shakespeare becomes a powerful tool.”
Western Michigan University Associate Professor of Theatre Dwandra Nickole Lampkin is the writer and actor behind “The Conviction of Lady Lorraine,” a free play being presented Friday and Saturday at the Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College.
Two esteemed guests visited the senior seminar led by Kalamazoo College Professor of Theatre Arts Lanny Potts on Wednesday. It’s not unusual for him to bring in professionals that have something to offer his students, but Dwandra Nickole Lampkin and Dee Dee Batteast are special because they’re ready to present the at-large Kalamazoo community with a gift from their talents.
The Festival Playhouse will produce The Conviction of Lady Lorraine, a one-person show written and performed by Lampkin and directed by Batteast. The free play will be offered to the public Friday and Saturday as a part of K’s Martin Luther King Jr. week celebrations. Support for the production is provided by the Arts Fund of Kalamazoo County, a program of the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo.
Director Dee Dee Batteast (left) prepares for “The Conviction of Lady Lorraine,” a free play this weekend at the Festival Playhouse, with Projection Designer Angela Mammel ’22 and Theatre Arts Professor Lanny Potts. Batteast is an adjunct faculty member at Ball State University.
The play is set in Memphis near the Lorraine Motel where King was assassinated. A writer, played by Lampkin, has a brief but powerful encounter with a homeless woman, Lady Lorraine. The writer finds herself transformed by Lady Lorraine’s 20-year quest to right a social wrong. One year later, the writer returns to Memphis, hoping that Lady Lorraine will share her full story of conviction. The writer quickly finds herself asking new questions about many things, and discovers that Lady Lorraine is not the only one on a quest for recognition.
Lampkin connected with Potts when the two worked on a virtual production of The Conviction of Lady Lorraine through Farmers Alley Theatre in Kalamazoo, where they agreed it would be outstanding for the community to see.
“Every theatre has its own energy,” Lampkin said. “The moment I walked into the Festival Playhouse, I thought, ‘Oh yeah, this space feels good!’ The intimacy of that space is perfect for a one-person show. It allows me, the story-teller, to connect with the audience; in the way that larger space wouldn’t.”
Lampkin serves as an associate professor of theatre at Western Michigan University. Her career spans two decades with television credits that include Law & Order, Law & Order SVU, Third Watch and Wonderland. She has performed at the Tony-Award winning Denver Center Theatre, the Huntington Theatre in Boston, the Human Race Theatre Company in Dayton and the Indiana Repertory Theatre in Indianapolis. She received her Masters of Fine Arts from The National Theatre Conservatory.
Batteast is an adjunct faculty member with Ball State University’s Bachelor of Fine Arts program, where she teaches courses in beginning acting, auditioning, one-person shows and Shakespeare. She also coaches Ball State’s professional showcases in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. Her recent regional theater credits include work with the Clarence Brown Theatre, Virginia Stage Company, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, PlayMakers Repertory Company and Indiana Repertory Theatre. Her television credits include Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. She also has a Master’s of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Batteast and Lampkin are natural creative partners as they have known each other since Batteast was Lampkin’s student at Ball State.
“I’m 38, I’ve been through two degrees and this is the only person of color who has ever taught me theatre,” Batteast said, while gesturing toward Lampkin. “I’ve always been drawn to this person as a storyteller and thirsting for that person to teach me because she handles stories in a way that I understand, as she intrinsically looks like me. This is a collaboration that continually gives back. I’m still learning and that’s a gift.”
Lampkin was a short-list candidate for a faculty position at the University of Memphis when she visited, among other sites in the city, the Lorraine Motel. That’s when she got the idea to write The Conviction of Lady Lorraine, thanks to a woman she spotted on the corner.
“The moment I walked away from that corner, I knew that I wanted to tell her story,” Lampkin said. “They ended up offering me the teaching job at Memphis, but I turned them down because I realized that I was never meant to teach at University of Memphis. I believe I was put in that space for the sole purpose of crossing paths with this woman.”
Tickets for The Conviction of Lady Lorraine, which is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Playhouse at 129 Thompson St., are available online. Please note that proof of vaccination and masks are required for admittance to the theatre.
“We’re coming up to MLK Day, so just the idea that I can tell this story is personally significant because there are many themes that surround Martin Luther King Jr. and his life and legacy,” Lampkin said. “To be able to bring a show like this to K College and to the community of Kalamazoo at this time, is a blessing and a privilege. It’s a way for me to use my creativity to keep his legacy alive, and honor him and the celebration that surrounds his day.”
Kalamazoo College’s Festival Playhouse produced “Well-Intentioned White People” last term. This winter, its theatre events include two one-person productions and a satirical vignette about Black cultural issues.
Make plans now to attend three theatre events during the winter term at Kalamazoo College, including two one-person productions and a satirical vignette about Black cultural issues.
First, the Festival Playhouse will produce The Conviction of Lady Lorraine, written and performed by Dwandra Nickole Lampkin, and offer it free to the community as a part of K’s Martin Luther King Jr. week celebrations. Support for this production is provided by the Arts Fund of Kalamazoo County, a program of the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo.
Directed by Dee Dee Batteast, the January 14 and 15 play is set in Memphis near the Lorraine Motel where King was assassinated. A writer, played by Lampkin, has a brief but powerful encounter with a homeless woman, Lady Lorraine. The writer finds herself transformed by Lady Lorraine’s 20-year quest to right a social wrong. One year later, the writer returns to Memphis, hoping that Lady Lorraine will share her full story of conviction. The writer quickly finds herself asking new questions about many things, and finding that Lady Lorraine is not the only one on a quest for recognition.
Lampkin serves as an associate professor of theatre at Western Michigan University. Her career spans two decades with television credits that include Law & Order, Law & Order SVU, Third Watch and Wonderland. She has performed at the Tony-Award winning Denver Center Theatre, the Huntington Theatre in Boston, the Human Race Theatre Company in Dayton and the Indiana Repertory Theatre in Indianapolis.
Tickets for The Conviction of Lady Lorraine, which is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Playhouse at 129 Thompson St. both days, are available online. Please note that currently both proof of vaccination and masks are required for admittance to the theatre.
Then, from February 10–13, Matthew Swarthout ’22 will undertake Sir Ian McKellen’s one-person show, Acting Shakespeare in this year’s Senior Performance Series. The show will encompass both Swarthout’s and McKellen’s insights into Shakespeare’s plays, featuring monologues and scenes from Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s dream, Hamlet, Macbeth and more. Watch the Festival Playhouse website for ticket information for the show at the Dungeon Theatre, 139 Thompson St.
Finally, from February 24–27, a quick-witted comedy will follow in the Festival Playhouse’s 58th season themed “Black is Beautiful: An Ode to Black Life, Love and Strength.” BLACKS+PHATS will examine themes such as beauty ideals, relationship dynamics and levels of attraction while searching for enlightenment in stereotypes. Current K students are eligible to audition. Watch the Festival Playhouse website for ticket information. The show will take place in the Festival Playhouse at 129 Thompson St.
Please observe the Festival Playhouse’s COVID-19 safety plan when enjoying productions this term. The plan follows current guidelines from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Michigan State Department of Health and Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Actors Equity Association (AEA). Find more information online about the safety plan and upcoming shows.
