This weekend around a campfire, a group of friends will tell and act out stories in the Saint Mary's Program in Theatre's latest production: "By Campfire and Candlelight." The performance, which was collaboratively written by cast and crew throughout the rehearsal process, will be shown twice in the Moreau Center for the Arts' Little Theatre, Friday evening and Sunday afternoon.
Director Michaela Duffy said the show was inspired by her own passion for storytelling.
“I’ve always been very, very interested in storytelling," Duffy said. "It’s what drew me into theatre.”
The idea of "collaborative" storytelling, Duffy added, was important in attracting student to buy in to the production.
“As I was thinking about the connection for Saint Mary’s students, perhaps investing in time to write and create our own stories might be a more interesting project,” Duffy said.
Through the first few weeks of rehearsals, the production team spent the majority of its time drafting material.
“Throughout the beginning parts of the rehearsal process, we broke it up into the goal of creating one or two short stories per week and doing that with different writing techniques and different styles,” Duffy explained.
The genesis of these story ideas, Duffy said, were quite disparate.
“Some of the stories came out of improv, others were adapted from existing Aesop's Fables," she said. "We had a cast member who had already had a short story that she had conceived of early in life and shared it with us. We developed it further and it’s here in our production now."
In addition to the show's storytelling focus, it's unique because of the student-led cast and crew. Tri-campus students have contributed everything to the performance: lights, sound, costumes; even directing.
One of two student directors Natalie Biegel, who acted in last semester's "Legally Blonde," didn't really know what she was getting into with the new role, she said.
"It's a wonderful position," Biegel said. "It's very difficult. It's really hard. But if I hadn't gone outside of my comfort zone, I wouldn't have gotten the most out of the experience."
Biegel talked about being there for every step of the process, starting with the development of their original script.
"We started this process with nothing," she said. "We had a rough idea of what we wanted the story to be about at its core, which was friendship and the power of a story and the importance of like oral history through time. From there, we just kind of developed the process of how we were going to create these stories."
Caidi McDonald, a performer in the production, also observed how this show varies from others — from not having a script to its unique audition process.
"A lot of times for auditions you have to come with like a song prepared and a monologue," McDonald explained. "I walked in, we told stories around a campfire, a little fake one, but close enough."
The audition process, McDonald added, was meant to test collaboration strength as opposed to individual character fit.
What most excites McDonald, she said, is seeing the story, a composite of Aesop re-tellings, fairytales and a few highlights of historical female aviators, come to life.
“I think there is something to be said about an all-women’s college producing an all-women’s piece that is all about women," McDonald said. "I just think it's really striking to visually see it and to bring these people that you might not even have heard about before to life and to show people that women deserve to be in spaces where things are occurring.”
The audience participation portion of the show, McDonald added, is something to look forward to as well.
"It’s just very fun and lively," she said. "It's probably the part that I'm most excited for, to see how people react to it and see if they participate and get into it."
The show is advertised for audiences age four through 12 or "anyone young at heart," but Duffy said there is a little bit of something for everyone.
"Particularly for young audiences, we hope that they love the puppetry and they love the storytelling," Duffy said. "But for those who are not children, there is still something here for them to see."
Biegel expressed a similar sentiment about the show's appeal.
"Theater is about escaping from the real world and enjoying yourself in a place that brings joy," she said. "I can't think of anything more joyous than telling campfire songs with your friends."
"By Campfire and Candlelight," a Saint Mary's College Storytellers Ensemble Performance, is playing this weekend in the Little Theatre, Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.
