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No Costumes, No Set, No Stage—No Problem!

Here's what Equus should look like, when the set and costume designers have access to their costumes, sets, and props. (Photo by Michael Portrie.)
Here's what Equus should look like, when the set and costume designers have access to their costumes, sets, and props. (Photo by Michael Portrie.)

The cast and crew of Equus were excited to be on stage for their prestigious invitation to perform the play at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival on Cape Cod on January 28th. When they heard about the monster snowstorm that was supposed to hit the Northeast that day, they decided to head down a day early to avoid the anticipated travel snarls. Ahh, the best laid plans. …

The hotel and conference center where they were to stay opened its doors early and welcomed the troupe. As the actors settled into their rooms, the tech crew delivered the set, costumes, and props to Cape Cod Community College, where the performance would be held the next day. Everything was ready and waiting for rehearsals and performance. Until the blizzard struck and a state-wide travel ban prevented anyone from leaving the conference center.

But, as everyone knows, the show must go on, so someone asked the Keene State troupe if they’d perform Equus in the conference center, for all the casts and crews from the other schools who were attending the festival. Perform the play without a stage and the brilliantly crafted props and costumes that set the mood? What could the KSC actors say?

“Sure!”

Where they crazy? Who would agree to perform under such limiting circumstances? “The students were so well rehearsed, they knew they could do it,” said Theatre & Dance Professor Celine Perron. “When everyone else was home enjoying their winter break, the cast and crew were here on campus, rehearsing for the festival. They knew that they were well ready to perform the play anywhere, anytime.”

So how did such a ridiculously bare-bones production go? It was amazing. One of the actors, Matt McDougall, tells it best:

We didn’t have our lights, we didn’t have our set, we didn’t have our costumes (as all of these elements were sitting in a theater on the other side of town), but we did have a rudimentary sound system and a cast full of well prepared actors. From that point forward, there was a flurry of action as the directors selected a large conference room as our stage, actors began warming up, technicians started searching for pieces of furniture that could be re-purposed to create the set, and designers began organizing new costumes from the clothes we had brought and experimented with the available sound systems. The rest of the hotel guests watched as we hustled back and forth from our rooms to our new-found theater.

And here's the space (and the audience) the KSC troupe had to work with at the conference center.
And here's the space (and the audience) the KSC troupe had to work with at the conference center.

Later that evening, we opened for an audience of 150–200 people. The actors portraying horses had no special headdresses or shoes to indicate their equine nature. A number of other props had to be pantomimed. Our new set presented new challenges we didn’t expect and had to readjust to during our performance. We were even checked mid-performance when someone in the audience feinted. Fortunately, we were able to move forwards, and the energy of the audience’s engagement was palpable. Their laughs, sighs, gasps, even involuntary verbal responses only fed our performance energy all the more. After the last scene, we took our final our bows to uproarious applause and an energetic standing ovation.

As we mingled with our audience after our performance, we were approached by people who were weeping, people who told us this was the best production of Equus they had ever seen (including on Broadway). Many said this was the best theatrical performance they had ever seen, period. Perhaps most touching was the person who approached us and said, ‘You have changed my perception of theatre.’ Everyone was profoundly moved by what they experienced.

The next day, we managed to get a few set pieces and all of our props and costumes from the community college (which was still closed) and hold another performance at the Cape Codder Resort in Hyannis. This time there were about 250–350 people in the audience, and their response was just as profound as it had been the previous evening. It was with bittersweet and heavy hearts that we struck our set, packed away the costumes, and laid Equus as it was to rest.”

—Matt McDougal

And what did the festival judges think of the Keene State students? Emily Allison was the Regional Costume Design winner for the costumes she’d designed for Fiddler on the Roof, and Taylor Jorgensen and his partner Kenon Venon were among the 16 Irene Ryan Acting finalists, from a pool of 250 student presenters. Jill Strazzere was a semi-finalist for her expert stage management for Equus, and the play’s technical crew won a Golden Hammer Award for the remarkable job they did putting on the play despite the fact that all their costumes and sets were snowed in. Equus received a Meritorius Award for the great movement and ensemble work of the five actors who played the horses.

The entire cast and crew deserve a big congratulations for making this play such a success: Will Adams, Emily Allison, Dana Angellis, Zach Ash-Bristol and his dog Belle, Lissy Barnes-Flint, Tyler Bean, josh Bernard-Kreigl, Henri Hardina-Blanchette, Mitch Hodge, Will Howell, Jenna Ives, Taylor Jorgensen, Danielle Kelley, Paige Lussier-Johnson, Matt McDougal, Jeannie McGartland, Katherine O’Leary, Megan Perreira, Mia Plympton, Michael Portrie, Jill Strazzere, Kenon Veno, Tiffany Dalian, Alex Trombly, Craig Lindsay, Elizabeth Streeter, co-directors PeggyRae Johnson and William Seigh, and administrative assistant Marcia Barrett.

— Mark Reynolds

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