Students get a lesson in 'Life and Literature'

Some student-authored pieces were showcased this weekend.

By Amanda Harrison

Published Sept. 25, 2009

Kayla Flint stood in the tech booth waiting for 8 p.m. She was anxiously awaiting the start of her first show as stage manager with the Corner Playhouse last Thursday.

"Thursday night was kind of rocky because it was my first show here as stage manager," Flint said. "After that night I was upset about how it went because it didn't really go in my favor."

But as the weekend went on, Flint learned a lot and looking back, said she is very pleased with her performance.

Flint was hard at work on the Corner Playhouse's series "Life and Literature." The production has showcased non-traditional work, student-authored work and soloist performances for seven years now.

"'Life and Literature' is not what you think of when you go to the theater," Flint said.

Heather Carver, creator and artistic director of "Life and Literature," said the series is a way to stage performances not necessarily meant for the stage.

"These works don't lend themselves to just reading," Carver said.

Two of the shows were student-authored: "A Casket Man/A Casket Girl" and "Mermaids."

Matt Fotis wrote the comedy "A Casket Man/A Casket Girl," in which either brothers or sisters — depending on which night it was — were up late discussing one of their own funeral arrangements.

"I was nervous for the show, but people laughed," said actor Brian Scanlan, who played John in the piece.

Jessica Haung wrote another short play, "Mermaids," in which a woman in her 30s is dealing with the issues and struggles of breast cancer, while her husband tries to keep her hopes up. The show was written without ever coming right out and saying she has cancer.

Director Heidi Schmidt said it was this ambiguity that made the play beautiful.

"It's much more interesting than throwing it all out there at the beginning," Schmidt said. "You just have to trust that the audience knows what is going on."

The other three productions consisted of a narrative play called "The Scarlet Ibis," which was written by James Hurst, and short stories, "Look and Long" by Gertrude Stein and "Hamlet on Facebook" by Sarah Schmelling.

Solo artists presented their poems and monologues each night.

Soloist Courtney Bandeko was given the opportunity to present one of her poems.

"When I wasn't casted in any of the shows, I wanted to write for it," Bandeko said. "I started three weeks ago. I had a new draft of my poem everyday. The audience laughed when they were supposed to and didn't laugh when they weren't supposed to."

Corner Playhouse received a record number of auditions this year. There were 41 auditions for "Life and Literature."

"Life and Literature" has always been a minimally produced program. There is a low budget restricting the performances to little to nothing on the stage.

"It's more edgy and raw because it's less realistic," Carver said. "It allows the audience to take part in creating the set and the world of the play."

Schmidt said by using only a few blocks, the audience can focus more on the show's material than the set and props.

Every night Flint got more and more comfortable being stage manager.

"I am proud to have worked on this show," she said. "I learned so many new things. Right from the start I was told that it wasn't like any other stage managing jobs. I feel like the weekend was such a success and I hope that my performance helped to make it so successful."