FALL THEATER PRODUCTION PREVIEW

Two

plays,

"The

Girl

Who

Went There" and "Minnesota Moon" will be performed this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Red Cloud Coffeehouse in Grace Hall at 8 p.m., despite controversy over the plays' language content.

by BenjaminLunn staff writer

The lights go down, the curtain comes up and controversy results from what spews forth from the actor's mouth. This week, the theater is putting on two plays. However, an air of controversy engulfs them.

'The Girl Who Went There" by Katherine Malone, a Cabri.ni graduate, and "Minnesota Moon" by John Olive open this weekend in the Red Cloud Coffeehouse.

·Toe Girl Who Went There" is directed by Neal Newman, and it stars first-year student Jenna Mancini, sophomore Christina Vergara, junior Lisa Nicole Finegan and first-year student T.J. Caracino.

The director of "Minnesota Moon" is Robert Meenan and the stage manager/assistant director is first-year student Julia Teti. Its stars <1reNick Reilly, a sophomore, and Christopher Swift, a first-year student. These plays will be shown on Nov. 5, 6 and 7 at 8 p.m. in the Red Cloud Coffeehouse in Grace Hall. The ticket price is $5.

According to its directors and actors, both plays highlight the subject of change. Friendship, maturity and the adaptation to college are also among its main concerns. These topics relate to the experiences of incoming first-year students and, therefore, these plays were originally intended to be perfonned over the summer at the orientations. Newman proposed this idea to Emma Legge, who is in charge of organizing orientation, and she thought it was an interesting idea.

During the planning stages, Dr. Robert Bonfiglio, vice president for student development, requested a copy of the scripts to read and give suggestions on. According to Bonfiglio, he never heard of "Minnesota Moon," but he did receive a copy of the script for "Girl." Upon reading the script he decided to intervene and prevent the plays from being performed at orientation due to the foul language. He felt the language was not appropriate for incoming students.

Legge, who also does not recall "Moon," found different problems with "Girl." She felt that the play was too female-miented and sent it back to Malone for "revamping." It was at this time that Bonfiglio intervened and Legge decided to step back and allow Newman and Bonfiglio settle the issue.

Student Development has the final say in matters concerning orientation and, therefore, the plays were dropped. During the course of the school year, the theater department has the final say as to what it will perform and opting not to ignore all of the hard work, Newman decided to perform the plays in the fall.

Although Legge likes Newman's idea to have a show over orientation, she feels that the new arrangement is better for the students. "Now they can choose what they want to see," Legge said. "At orientation they would have been forced."

When asked about the audience's reaction to "Girl," Newman said,"I hope it'll be good, but this is a new play, and with new plays you never know until opening night." When asked about "Moon," Meenan simply said, '·It's going to be a great show."

As far as the cast goes, optimism prevails. "We worked really hard and we hope for a good turnout," said Vergara, one of the actors in ''Girl.''

All involved were forced to deal with tight schedules, controversial content and exhausting rehearsals, but their thoughts can be summed up by "Moon" actor Chris Swift. "We·ve come a long way since we started," he said.