M B U N EWS
all in Expansive collaboration marks theatre production
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ometimes making great art requires the brilliance of a single mind. But most of the time? It’s a group effort. Early in the new year, MBU theatre launched a largescale collaboration around The Love of the Nightingale by Timberlake Wertenbaker. A thought-provoking play that is at times tough to watch, Nightingale retells a story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses about Philomele, who is raped and mutilated by someone she once trusted, and how she is able to transcend an experience that threatened to define her. (See sidebar for more on how MBU theatre is working to tell stories like Philomele’s responsibly.) Rising to the challenge of the play, from navigating the plot to creating costumes, were representatives from several departments in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, the newest of MBU’s academic units formed at the beginning of 2019. “Around 75 students logged hundreds of hours to bring you this play tonight and, as their director and fellow collaborator, I invite you to celebrate their work, vision, sweat, and brilliance. This is what collaboration looks like at MBU,” wrote Doreen Bechtol, assistant professor of Shakespeare and Performance, in her director’s note. Several professors incorporated into their curriculum the experiential and practical work of making Nightingale. Under Martha Saunders, assistant professor of art, eight students in her
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Drawing II course spent a month designing and building life-size dolls and headdresses for the production as well as creating artwork for the show poster and programs. “For our visual art students, these projects allow for an experience to move beyond their individual focused studio practices, to a community effort,” said Saunders. “This collaboration challenged the students to work through ideas both by themselves and with each other.” Adjunct Assistant Professor of Theatre Molly Seremet and her theatre production students also contributed by designing and building Greekinspired masks and dying fabrics for the costumes that Seremet designed. Film students in Adjunct Assistant Professor of Film Allan Moyé’s class created a documentary that chronicled the rehearsal and production process, and they helped put together a short teaser to advertise the play. “To make a play requires a tremendous commitment of time in order to invest in the physical, emotional, and imaginative labor required to build the world,” Bechtol said. “I enjoy a collaborative process because I love working and learning from my colleagues and from students. The process feels more creative and alive when more voices contribute to the process.” From actors to artists to film-makers, here are some selected voices of the students and alumni who came together to create The Love of the Nightingale on stage.
