Living & Arts

365 plays in one day

In print | November 20, 2008

In November of 2002, Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks undertook the ambitious project of writing one brief play every day for 365 consecutive days. According to a New York Times article published on Nov. 10, 2006, “Subject matter for the plays, most only a few pages long, ranges from deities to soldiers to what Ms. Parks saw out of her plane window.” In honor of Parks theatrical feat, Swarthmore’s Drama Board will perform 23 excerpts from the playwright’s “365 Days/365 Plays” project this weekend.

Over the past week, Drama Board has been working tirelessly to pull together a production out of the disparate excerpts.“365 Days/365 Plays” director Sam Goodman ’10 was drawn to Parks’ work because it captures the mundane snapshots of everyday life and transforms them into art. “These plays are snapshots. They provide a record of the author’s life, feelings and emotions, of things that were on her mind and that we can identify with very easily,” Goodman said. In conceptualizing the production, Goodman wanted to capture Parks’ thematic emphasis on change and development. “That’s what I wanted to show by having actors go from one play to another, from one character to another. It’s as if these characters pass through the plays at some moment in their lives,” Goodman said.

A small cast and dedicated support team worked assiduously to bring Goodman’s vision to fruition. Assistant director Allison Flamm ’09, who has worked closely with the nine actors and 14 other members of the production team, expressed her admiration of the commitment and talent of everyone involved. “We have a very exciting team of production people and a very talented cast. Everyone is dedicated and people are serious about creating art,” Flamm said.

Nell Bang-Jensen ’11, who stars in 11 of the plays, said that it is rewarding to participate in a broader celebration of Parks’ phenomenal project. “It’s great to be part of the bigger movement. They’re performing her plays on campuses all over the country,” Bang-Jensen said. As a theater minor with previous acting experience, Bang-Jensen wanted to get involved in the project because she saw it as a unique and challenging opportunity. “You rarely get to play these many different roles and to improvise that much. The freedom is simply wonderful, but the entire process required a lot of trust,” Bang-Jensen said.

Simone Fried ’10, fellow cast member, found that her extensive dance background helped her connect with the challenging character she plays. Her previous acting experience motivated her to get involved, but she considers her work with dance her greatest theatrical asset. “I think the reason I was chosen was that I was tuned with my physicality and able to move in unusual ways and Ali and Sam [director and assistant director] were interested in movement in this performance.”

Josh Cockroft ’12 joined the team out of sheer enthusiasm for the project and a strong passion for theater. With an impressive background in acting, playwriting and directing, he jumped right into the production. “It really has been a great experience, I’ve enjoyed working with people who are as committed as I am. They have a deeper understanding of the material than I’ve ever encountered before,” Cockroft said.

The Lang Performing Arts Center and Theater Department provided support throughout the process, which impressed the cast and crew. “It was a great thing to do, since this wasn’t a department, but a Drama Board production,” Goodman said. Audience involvement is a unique feature of the performance and the location was chosen to support this participatory dynamic. “Emma Ferguson, our set designer, has done a great job arranging the locations for various plays. The audience has the possibility to walk around and see different plays at almost the same time,” Goodman said, adding that he got his inspiration from outdoor theater projects, such as “Shakespeare in the Park”.

With the premiere rapidly approaching, the production team is confident that a supportive audience will help them work through last-minute anxieties. “I hope [the audience is] as excited as we are. It will be a unique and dynamic performance.” Even if the fast-moving sequence of diverse excerpts is at times difficult to follow, Goodman said he hopes the audience will appreciate the thematic elements that bind the separate scenes into a cohesive body of work. “The audience will enjoy individual plays, but I hope that consciously or unconsciously, they will appreciate the greater work, be drawn into the piece as a whole and see the characters’ subtle development.”

“365 Days/365 Plays” will be performed in Upper Tarble from 8 p.m. to 9:30pm on Friday and Saturday, November 21 and 22 respectively and from 2 p.m. to 3:30pm on Saturday and Sunday.