BC premieres new work by alumni playwrights
Two 电子游戏软件 alumni playwrights will showcase their talents on campus this semester when their new work 克利夫兰圆 premieres at the University’s Robsham Theater ArtsCenter.
Featuring a cast of eight performers, the new work by 2023 graduates Aidan O’Neill and 莉莉Telegdy explores the web of human connections through the lens of 20-somethings living in Boston, in the titular neighborhood near BC. 克利夫兰圆 will be presented at Robsham’s Bonn Studio from March 21-24 as part of the RTAC/Theatre Department spring line-up.
莉莉Telegdy
“The road to happiness is marked with jarring potholes and unexpected detours,” the play’s description states, as the protagonists “grapple with life’s basic questions.” Some are as trivial as where to get a good cup of coffee. But others are troubling and complex: “Who am I really? What is the right thing to do? Is there life after 30?”
Though neither describe the play—inspired when they were undergraduates in part by the great unknown of life after college—as autobiographical, “there are many traits about myself I see in the characters, and I share many of their fears about the future and being an adult,特莱吉说.
奥尼尔同意. “The overarching sense of ‘what to do next’ is definitely true to our experiences. I lived in 克利夫兰圆 for two years during my time at BC; it’s a special place to me and it perfectly fit the transitory, circular nature of our play” as a backdrop to the characters’ stories, 斗争, 和联系.
艾丹奥尼尔
The duo were frequent collaborators during their undergraduate years as theatre majors. 他们开始写作 克利夫兰圆 during senior year as their thesis project with Professor of Theatre Scott T. Cummings, who is directing the play. He first directed their work in 2022 as part of a “New Voices” showcase of original plays.
“I’ve developed a number of new plays at 电子游戏软件 by students or former students, but this is the first time I am directing a play written by two people,卡明斯说. “这是不同的. It’s almost like there are three playwrights: Lily, Aidan, and the curious blend of their voices.”
Though Cummings describes them as very different people, “they have symbiotic sensibilities,他说. 在这一点上, when I’m working on the script, I don’t remember who wrote what at first—unless I come across a real Lily-ism or Aidan-ism. They definitely have distinctive senses of humor.”
“Working with Scott again means so much to me,特莱吉说. “Ever since I met Scott, he has encouraged me as a playwright, and working on ‘New Voices’ was one of the most rewarding experiences. We started writing this play in an independent study with Scott, and he is as important to 克利夫兰圆 as either myself or Aidan.”
“Scott was one of my favorite professors, 最大的导师, and a frequent collaborator,奥尼尔说。. “He’s still all of those things and a great friend as well, so it’s a joy to work with him. It wouldn’t be happening without him.”
Of their continued collaboration, Cummings said: “I’ve worked with each of them for years: two semesters of playwriting when they were sophomores, a year developing their separate one-act plays as part of ‘New Voices 2022’ in their junior year, a joint independent study in their senior year, 现在我们继续 克利夫兰圆 when they are out in the world and confronting ‘life after college.’ It’s a privilege to have sustained working relationships like this and to see them grow not just as playwrights but as people, 太.”
双方都很高兴 克利夫兰圆 will premiere on campus.
“It makes me really excited that this play is premiering at a college,特莱吉说. “It feels right: that a play about what’s it’s like to be a young person is first presented to young people, 年轻人.”
Added O’Neill, “It’s weird but very exciting to be coming back to BC and premiering this play. Since I just graduated in May, it’s certainly a bit of déjà vu, but I love and am so thankful for the BC theater community, so it’s pretty special.
“One of my favorite parts of the whole 克利夫兰圆 process has been co-writing with Lily. You don’t frequently get to co-write with someone and it’s been a very special collaboration with a great friend.”
Both are pursuing careers in theater: Telegdy, a drama teacher and technical director, focuses on theater for young audiences, and plans to continue work as a playwright; O’Neill has a job in events in addition to theater work as a long-term pursuit.
For more information on the production, including performance times and ticket prices, see secretsilm.com/theatre. 购票请到 secretsilm.com/tickets or call the RTAC Box Office at ext. 2-4002.