2008 Woodie Awards
One Shel of a performance
Sara Afzal, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 5/8/08 Section: News
Other poetry performed included "I Won't Hatch," "Point of View," and "The Meehoo with an Exactlywatt."
During the one-act play "The Lifeboat is Sinking," actors Wilkinson and Hayden acted as a husband and wife who play a hypothetical game. The wife questioned her husband about what he would do if their lifeboat was sinking in a rainstorm. The comedic impact was achieved when the wife was happy that her husband chose to save their daughter instead of his mother, who would be thrown off of the lifeboat.
Since February, both Carreiro and Mercier helped the cast to develop their characters by asking them to think about their character's life history, or what the character was doing before the scene.
"Jenna and Troy left it really up to us to develop our characters. They sometimes gave us hints. Troy told me to use stuttering during 'K'," said Sims. During the poem "K," Sims's character stuttered each time she said a word starting with the letter K, which resulted in laughter from the audience.
"A Shel Silverstein Evening" was Carreiro's first time directing. "I learned so much from Troy, who is more experienced, and from the cast on just how to work with people and to get what you want out of a performance," said Carreiro.
A UMass alum, Mercier has directed four other shows and has been actively involved in theater since his graduation in 2006.
"I have a passion for creating new works of theater. I don't want to 'do' a show. I want to pioneer the future of theatre," said Mercier.
Sponsored by theater professor and academic advisor Milan Dragicevich, the theater department provided the use of room 204 in the Fine Arts Center, which has a stage, light stand, sound system and chairs. According to Carreiro, besides purchasing props at the dollar store, there were no other expenses for the show.
Carreiro wanted to direct her own show to give opportunities to students who did not get cast in UMass productions.
"I think a lot of talent is hidden in the department and no one gets to see how fantastic these students are," said Carreiro.
Sara Afzal can be reached at safzal@student.umass.edu.
During the one-act play "The Lifeboat is Sinking," actors Wilkinson and Hayden acted as a husband and wife who play a hypothetical game. The wife questioned her husband about what he would do if their lifeboat was sinking in a rainstorm. The comedic impact was achieved when the wife was happy that her husband chose to save their daughter instead of his mother, who would be thrown off of the lifeboat.
Since February, both Carreiro and Mercier helped the cast to develop their characters by asking them to think about their character's life history, or what the character was doing before the scene.
"Jenna and Troy left it really up to us to develop our characters. They sometimes gave us hints. Troy told me to use stuttering during 'K'," said Sims. During the poem "K," Sims's character stuttered each time she said a word starting with the letter K, which resulted in laughter from the audience.
"A Shel Silverstein Evening" was Carreiro's first time directing. "I learned so much from Troy, who is more experienced, and from the cast on just how to work with people and to get what you want out of a performance," said Carreiro.
A UMass alum, Mercier has directed four other shows and has been actively involved in theater since his graduation in 2006.
"I have a passion for creating new works of theater. I don't want to 'do' a show. I want to pioneer the future of theatre," said Mercier.
Sponsored by theater professor and academic advisor Milan Dragicevich, the theater department provided the use of room 204 in the Fine Arts Center, which has a stage, light stand, sound system and chairs. According to Carreiro, besides purchasing props at the dollar store, there were no other expenses for the show.
Carreiro wanted to direct her own show to give opportunities to students who did not get cast in UMass productions.
"I think a lot of talent is hidden in the department and no one gets to see how fantastic these students are," said Carreiro.
Sara Afzal can be reached at safzal@student.umass.edu.
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