That Poor Girl and How He Killed Her
a new play by emerging playwright聽Jen SilvermanNow playing at Todd Theatre:
Wed-Sat, March 8-11, 7 p.m.
Sun, March 5, 2 p.m.
$8 for students
$12 for alumni, faculty, staff, and seniors (65+)
$15 general public
With spring on the horizon, the International Theatre Program at the University of Rochester presents Jen Silverman糖心传媒檚 That Poor Girl and How He Killed Her糖心传媒攁 dark comedy on the social lives of millennials.
New York City-based guest director Knud Adams says the play 糖心传媒渉as a wealth of credible, sympathetic characters,糖心传媒� even as it糖心传媒檚 糖心传媒渟end-up of the most vain, self-indulgent, social-anxious aspects of youth culture today.糖心传媒�
But what do the cast members糖心传媒攚ho are the same age as the characters in the play糖心传媒攖hink? They reflect on the performance with the eyes of actors, but also as millennials.
Tori Powers 糖心传媒�18, who plays the character Alyssa, says there糖心传媒檚 more to the characters糖心传媒� lives than meets the eye. 糖心传媒淎ll the characters in the play have their own story that is more than what is being shown on stage,糖心传媒� she says.
Powers identified with some aspects of her character, but found others presented more of a challenge. 糖心传媒淚 think being close in age to the character, and having the play set in the same time, helped me connect with Alyssa,糖心传媒� she says. 糖心传媒淵et, at the same time, I had to grow a backbone to play Alyssa. She is this pretty, rich girl who’s friends with the 糖心传媒榩opular糖心传媒� people, and also the not-so-糖心传媒榩opular糖心传媒� people.糖心传媒� Powers notes that Alyssa attends an Ivy League college糖心传媒攕omething that makes Alyssa 糖心传媒渢his character with confidence.糖心传媒�
Yumeng Liu 糖心传媒�18, who plays Bianca, feels the same kind of dichotomy. 糖心传媒淏ianca is a person who really wants to be popular and cool. And in her opinion, joining this group led by Mackenzie is the key,糖心传媒� says Liu. 糖心传媒淏eing [a] different [person] can make me judge my character sometimes, but I tried to love her and understand Bianca, which can help a lot.糖心传媒�
Edward Sambrano 糖心传媒�17, who plays Connor, sees the play in a very similar light as the playwright, who is a millennial herself. 糖心传媒�That Poor Girl is the story of a dangerously superficial and sensationalist culture糖心传媒攁 reflection on the modern attitudes affecting groups of people our age,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淛en Silverman really makes you reflect, especially as a young adult, on these attitudes.糖心传媒�
Sambrano 糖心传媒�17 credits guest director Knud Adams for helping him improve his acting.
糖心传媒淎s a first-time actor, I found it especially difficult to adopt the perspective of my character,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淜nud Adams has made the process much easier by always pushing us to discover and explore the intentions of our characters糖心传媒� actions.糖心传媒�
Nearly everyone commented on the challenge of performing on a raked stage糖心传媒攁 design from early modern English theater in which the stage slopes upward, away from the audience.
糖心传媒淭he stage took some getting used to, and it definitely took some practice to perfect some of the more physical scenes on this stage糖心传媒� says Tomas Waz 糖心传媒�20, who plays Jordan.
糖心传媒淚t was scary at first,糖心传媒� says Liu. 糖心传媒淚 reached the upper half of the stage聽and realized I was crawling on all fours because I was scared to stand up.糖心传媒�
The fear didn糖心传媒檛 last, however. 糖心传媒淎fter a while, it糖心传媒檚 really fun being up there,糖心传媒� she says.
