Southwestern College Collegian

Issue date: 3/26/08 Section: Campus Life

No sooner has the theatre department gotten out of the woods, have they picked up a new script. Well, sort of a script. "The way they put the script together is that you have very, very detailed character descriptions," said Allyson Moon, associate professor of theatre and speech. Moon is the director of Finnegan's Farewell, the new show that cast members will be rehearsing for in the weeks to come. "First they set the scene. For much of it, you're told who comes in, where they sit and how to respond, but the actors create all of the dialogue," said Moon. "From time to time there is some scripted dialogue that actually acts just as a road map throughout the play. At least 85 percent of the script is improvised in regard to dialogue. It's just the action that is scripted." Elizabeth Higbee, theatre performance sophomore, said, "It's very funny. It's open for improvisation, whatever we think of at the moment." Higbee plays Busty Quivers in the show. "It's also open to audience participation, so if you're an audience member you may be pulled up to honor Paddy, the dead guy in the show, even though you don't know who he is," said Higbee. Moon said, "It's an interactive play. It's an Irish Catholic family funeral and then a reception. Paddy Finnegan is the character who's funeral the play is based on. While in Atlantic City, Patty won $2.2 million, and he hasn't done anything with the money. Now, unbeknownst to many of the characters, his will is to be read at the reception of his funeral. As you can imagine when somebody has $2.2 million, when the will is read, crazy things are going to happen." The funeral act of the play will take place in Messenger Recital Hall. For the second act, actors and audience will travel to the cafeteria for a reception in a more open space environment. "Since it is an Irish event, there is of course going to be dancing involved. We're talking about having root beer and cream soda and pretzels. We'll probably have a mock-bar for the actors," said Moon. Higbee said, "There's singing and most of the characters singing are drunk at the time in the show, so it's going to be really fun." Audiences will be let in on the action April 10, 11 and 12. Drew Logsdon is a senior majoring in communication. You may e-mail him at drew.logsdon@sckans.edu.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools