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Playwright to help students premiere her work

By Shayna Melgaard '07
September 4, 2008

When playwright Deborah Stein visits campus next week, she'll do more than tell students about her work. She'll help them bring it to life.

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Stein, a New York native now living in Minneapolis, will visit campus Sept. 8 for a three-day residency to teach students about playwriting -- and to help them produce her new play titled "The Aerodynamics of Accident."

The St. Olaf Theatre Department will present the play, written by Stein and directed by Professor of Theatre Karen P. Wilson '77, this fall. It opens Oct. 1 in Haugen Theater and will be presented as part of the New Playwrights on Campus program through the Minneapolis-based Playwrights' Center, of which St. Olaf is a member. The program is an initiative that brings colleges and living playwrights together in collaboration on a new, never-before produced play.

"I'm glad I'm going to meet so many students," Stein says. "Plays demand so much collaboration. Scripts are more like blueprints. It's up to the actors, director and designers to make it a play."

Working together
Tim Otte '10 is the lighting designer for the show. He's hoping his design will help Stein's script come alive on opening night. Since the turn-around time for the first show of the Theatre Department's 2008-09 season is less than four weeks long, Otte and the rest of the production team have been working this summer to ensure they're ready once "Aerodynamics" is cast and rehearsals begin Sept. 8. After a mid-August production meeting, at which Stein met the design team for the first time, Otte described the experience as crossing into "new territory."

"It's interesting to think that I'm the first person who's ever lit this show," he says. "It's humbling thinking there are hundreds of other ways this could be done. It was fun talking with Deborah about my ideas and sort of seeing her face, excuse the pun, light up. As designers, we were getting the playwright thinking about her play in a new way. She wrote it, but it's never been produced on stage in a full way, with lighting and set and costume design."

Stein, who is a two-time Jerome Fellowship recipient from the Playwrights' Center, has had several of her collaborative plays produced, but working with St. Olaf on "The Aerodynamics of Accident" will be her first time participating in the New Plays on Campus program.

"This is a wonderful opportunity and a tremendous gift to theater artists," Stein says. "By bringing a playwright and a new play on campus, students see that plays don't just exist in books. You get to see a play as a living document. That's not what it always is, but collaboration is what makes theater unique in the 21st Century. It's immensely powerful for students to experience that."

Targeting a new generation of theatergoers
Both Stein and Wilson mentioned the dusty versions of plays written long ago and said that re-staging those plays without considering today's very different audience may be what keeps some people from becoming interested in theater or seeing shows. Stein specifically revered the work of playwrights like Henrik Ibsen and Arthur Miller, but stressed the importance of contemporary playwrights doing today what those men did for their generations.

"There is so much to be gained from meeting directly with a playwright," Wilson says. "I think that students will have direct access to a more mysterious part of creating theater. They will be able to ask questions about the development of this particular play. They will be able to talk through questions that may arise as they begin working on this production. Deborah Stein will be able to see a more complete production of her wonderful play and she will probably gain insights about her script as she listens to the cast and crews begin working on the production."

In addition to working with the play's actors, director and production team, Stein will spend time visiting various theater classes. She will also participate in a Sept. 10 brown-bag lunch dialogue from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Buntrock Commons Room 143. The session is open to the entire St. Olaf community -- just bring a lunch and questions for the playwright.

Wilson said she chose this script in part because the production dates and theme coincide with the dedication of Regents Hall of Natural and Mathematical Sciences. Wilson said she thinks Stein's residency on campus will be a "win-win-win" interaction.

Auditions for "The Aerodynamics of Accident" are open to all St. Olaf students and will be held Sept. 5 and 6 in Kelsey Theater. For details, contact the Theatre Department at 507-786-3240 or visit the Callboard in the theater Green Room to sign up for an audition time.

Tom Borger '06 recently interviewed Deborah Stein about the New Plays on Campus program and working with St. Olaf. Borger is the administrative, communications and development associate for the Playwrights' Center. Listen to his interview with Stein.

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.