By Katelyn Larson
College theatre department to perform Dead Man’s Cell Phone
What would you do if the cell phone of the person beside you goes off, and that person is dead? Would you answer it? That is the premise of the play “Dead Man’s Cell Phone”, written by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award nominee Sarah Ruhl, which is currently being put on by the college’s theatre department.
The play was chosen by Beate Pettigrew, artistic coordinator for the theatre department and director of this play. According to Pettigrew, she chooses shows that will provide a challenge for the students. She explained “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” is not easy to do because it’s not a realistic play, rather than a contemporary drama which according to her, is the easiest thing for young people to do.
“There’s this sense of old Hollywood about it,” Pettigrew said. “The style of acting is so important and bigger than life and that’s what makes it challenging for the student actors, to find that style.”
“Dead Man’s Cell Phone” is one of many plays performed this year at the college. The theatre department does five shows a year, three of which are held in the Black Box and two that are in the Polksy Theatre. The college has a small program with about 20 scholarship students and about 30 more that are the core of the department. According to Pettigrew, the small size of the program may be due to a lack of awareness at the college.
“It’s amazing to me that so many people on campus don’t even know that we have a theatre department,” Pettigrew said.
The theatre department offers several classes, allowing students to gain experience in both sides of theatre: performing and technical.
“I want to be a working professional actor but I do a lot of tech stuff too so that way I have more to offer,” said Koki Sabatés, student who plays Mrs. Gottlieb in “Dead Man’s Cell Phone”. “You have a more harmonious relationship with everyone once you do both sides of it.”
Not only does the theatre department teach a wide range of theatre production and performance skills, but it also helps the students get a leg up in future theatre endeavors. According to Austen Hanley, a student who plays Dwight Gottlieb in “Dead Man’s Cell Phone”, theatre students from the college that go on to theatre departments at four-year universities soar above the competition.
“My high school teacher went to K-State and told me that everyone in the theatre department there that came from JCCC really stood out from the everyone else,” Hanley said.
Sabatés has also valued her time in the college’s theatre department.
“All the professors have professional experience, and they really expect us to act like professionals. When we compete, people automatically know that we’re Johnson County Community College and we are a force to be reckoned with,” Sabatés said. “I feel like I’m in a place where I say ‘I want to be a professional theater person,’ and they take me seriously and give me opportunities to do that.”
Unfortunately, according to Pettigrew, they average only about 100 people per show, which she said is mostly made up of theatre students and friends and family. According to Hadley, the department is wonderful and he wishes more people at the college knew about it.
“The experience of seeing a live theatre production is unmatched,” Pettigrew said. “It’s so exciting because it’s right in your face, and if they do a good job of transporting you to another time and place, I think that experience is so much more worthwhile than a movie.”
All performances are free and open to the public. You can watch “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” next weekend in the Polsky Theatre of the Carlsen Center. The performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 22-23, and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 23-24. Seating is available on a first-come, first-seated basis.
In addition to the theatre students, play auditions are open to any students at the college, as well as community members. For more information on how to get involved with the college’s theatre department, contact Beate Pettigrew at bpettigr@jccc.edu.
Contact Katelyn Larson, reporting correspondent, at klarso27@jccc.edu.