Arts and Culture
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Everybody Examines What’s Most Important in Our Lives
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MADELINE RICHARD ‘26 (SHE/HER) STAFF WRITER
he Davidson College Theatre Department recently brought the show Everybody to campus. The show is a retelling of the 1400s morality play Everyman, and, like its predecessor, it attempts to teach its audience moral lessons. More precisely, the play remarks on the inevitability of death, encouraging viewers to reflect on themselves and what matters most in their lives. Everybody has a powerful message, and its production was unique from the start. Rather than beginning onstage, cast members Uday Ahuja ‘26, Laura Lillian Baggett ‘26, D’Mycal Foreman ‘25 David Kilde ‘25, and Mahrle Siddall ‘25 were interspersed throughout the audience. They came onstage only once they had been summoned by Death (Sarah Catalano ‘26), and they reached the stage with understandably mortal panic. Before learning their fate, cast members were assigned to their roles through a lottery. The casting of Everybody depended on chance, thus reflecting the uncertainty of life and death. This randomness meant that each performance of Everybody looked different — Ahuja, Baggett, Foreman, Kilde, and Siddall had equal chances of playing the roles of Everybody, Friendship, Kinship, and Stuff at each show. The cast members had to memorize multiple sets of lines, an impressive and challenging task. Once roles had been assigned, the plot unfolded. Everybody had been sentenced to death by God and had to compile a presentation of their life. However, they were given the chance to bring someone on their journey for support, comfort, and company. While Everybody was anxious about their
fate, they were grateful that they did not have to be alone and immediately started looking for the perfect companion. Everybody began their search by turning to Friendship. When Everybody and Friendship first connected onstage, it seemed like there could be hope for Everybody. The two talked as if no time had passed, and they appeared to care about each other. In fact, Friendship even declared that they would die for Everybody. However, other parts of their conversation were superficial — the two talked about generic topics, gossiped about irrelevant people, and avoided connecting on a deeper level. Friendship was shallow, and when Everybody asked for a companion on their journey to death, they refused to join. Instead, Friendship gave Everybody a quick hug, offered a perfunctory “I’ll miss you,” and turned to find their other friends, thus suggesting that Friendship is in fact fragile. After Friendship failed to support Everybody on their journey to death, Everybody looked to Kinship, two cousins, believing that family would always be by their side. While it seemed like Everybody and their cousins loved each other at first, it eventually became clear that Kinship was just as superficial as Friendship. Both cousins shied away from accompanying Everybody on their journey to death, explaining that they had other things to do and that they were not willing to sacrifice themselves for their family. Everybody grew disillusioned with humanity after their interactions with Friendship and Kinship and even wished that they had spent more time on self-reflection than their relationships. They also wondered if the material world could accompany them on their journey, which caused them to call Stuff to the stage. Everybody was overjoyed to see Stuff at first and believed that, since they owned Stuff, they could absolutely bring Stuff on their journey. However, their optimism was soon
Davidson Theatre Department performs Everybody. Photo by Karli Henderson shattered. Stuff felt no attachment to Everybody and refused to join them. Stuff’s rejection alluded to the dangers of materialism, and it also left Everybody completely helpless. After consulting Friendship, Kinship, and Stuff, Everybody believed that they had exhausted their options for companionship. While Everybody thought that they would have to undergo their journey alone, a twist at the end of the play brought them hope. They reconnected with Love (Malavika Kalani ‘24), suggesting that they do not have to be alone. However, Love still had some unsustainable demands. For example, Love asked Everybody to strip and run around the theatre several times, which indicated that even love might be conditional. As Everybody prepared to die, it was unclear who would accompany them. They encountered several qualities, like Beauty, Strength, and Understanding. Still, none of these qualities
were willing to follow them beyond the grave. Yet ultimately, Love prevailed — they stayed with Everybody as they headed towards death. Love recognized that their relationship with Everybody extended beyond their body and was instead about their emotional connection, driving them to support Everybody during their journey. The play’s conclusion offers powerful commentary on what truly matters. Everybody suggests that Love is the only genuine thing in our lives and the only thing that will support us even in death. In doing so, it offers guidance on how we should view our lives and reveals that we should prioritize Love above all else. Madeline Richard ‘26 (she/her) is an English major from Baltimore, MD. She can be reached for comment at marichard@davidson.edu.
Austin English: Abstract Realist in Conversation with his imaginative authenticity, inviting onlookers to deep levels of contemplation. Focusing on his own aesthetics offers the work a transcendent quality as if it were an amalgamation of opposing styles such as blending techno and jazz music, another medium he takes inspiration from. HIc omics inspire powerful emotions, including joy, love, pain. The odd figures, moved about by a surreal dialogue connect the scenes and unite each panel into one cohesive work. Through self publishing, English has been able to share his work that may have been too
STEPHEN WALKER ‘26 (HE/HIM) STAFF WRITER
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n Thursday, March 23, 2023, artist and writer Austin English spoke to members of the Davidson community about his career path and plans for the future. As a cartoonist, English has published three books, and his artwork has been displayed in galleries across the United State,s including Et Al in San Francisco and Marvin Gardens in New York. He also runs his own comic specific publishing house, Domino Books, and teaches art at various institutions. English began his talk reminiscing about artists who inspired his work: Lewis Carrol, who wrote Alice in Wonderland, in addition to artists Charlotte Solomon, Mark Bayer, and several others. English was inspired by these creators to make art in a way that is authentic to his own experiences. He made it quite clear that without these influences, his work would have looked quite different, or even ceased to exist entirely. With these words, the audience gained insight into the rules and principles that guide English’s work. In his art, English generally places an emphasis on powerful colors and shapes which may appear jarring to those expecting a run of the mill cartoon. English values the ability to constantly experiment, pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable as his stories take the unexpected route. English went on to take the audience through three of his books and the work that went into creating them. The excerpts from
Cover of English’s Gulag Casual. Photo credit: Austin English English’s three books displayed his mission to unconventionally depict human nature. The strange, stunted figures and behaviors in surreal landscapes were meant to show the awkwardness of people trying to fit in. The mannerisms, he explained, were inspired by actors in the films of minimalist filmmaker Robert Bresson. The characters, it is important to note, were played by non-professional actors who express themselves on screen in ways professionals are taught to avoid. The way English constructs his stories gives them a natural feel as they progress from one panel to the next. They are overflowing
his experiences with self-publishing first as a consumer, then as an artist, and finally as a publisher with his own company. It has allowed him to make his passion his life’s work, and through Domino Books he can now give that gift to many other aspiring writers and artists. He has been able to shake up the industry and expand audiences for unconventional artists. The talk closed with a Q & A in which English answered questions about how he has given back through his teaching. He spoke of his mission to help others find their mode of creative expression and how he tries to emphasize that pure creativity and passion in all the work he does with his students. He spoke about the future of the artform and how technology has begun to have a major impact on his work. There is a great freedom in what English has been able to accomplish in his work. It is the work of creators like English that allows viewers to understand the zenith of visual arts, a creative realm with no limits and a clear connection to the subconscious which inspires all that one can dream up and create. Stephen Walker ‘26 (He/Him) is an English and Political Science major from Haverford, Pennsylvania. He can be reached for comment at stwalker@davidson.edu
Cartoonist Austin English. Photo credit: Austin English strange for conventional publications. Selfpublishing has also enabled English to share this work with the world. He spoke about