thePULSEStudents are Running the Show at Fitchburg State
By Alex Kantarelis
November sees a first for Fitchburg State College. The school’s Theatre program will be putting up a production of Michael Weller’s Moonchildren. While it is by no means the first play the school has done, it does mark the first time a production will be mounted without the faculty calling all the shots. “This will be the first show that is student directed, acted, and designed,” said Kelly Morgan, the theatre director and advisor at Fitchburg State. Student director Jack Crory takes the captain’s seat and tackles the daunting task of bringing the show to life. Crory, a senior at FSC, has lots of theatre experience, both as an actor and as a director. Last year he was the runner-up in the Best Director category at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
In many ways, it is fitting that Moonchildren happens to be the first student run show. It is based in the 1960s and is about, you guessed it, college kids. So it is a college play by college kids, for college kids. It doesn’t get much better than that. The show centers around a group of students who in 1965 decide to spend their senior year living in an apartment together. They are all coming to the end of their college careers, facing not only the many changes in life but also the much-dreaded “real world.” Of course, it couldn’t be a play based in the 60s without the Vietnam War, which serves as a backdrop for the characters. “[The actors] are working on material that they can truly handle, and would be cast in if they were hired in the professional world,” said Morgan. “This piece is considered an American contemporary classic,” he added. “[The play] really captures the hearts and minds of young America,” director Jack Crory said.
Moonchildren’s theme can easily be applied to many of today’s social issues. “If you graduate from college and go into the real world you’re being pulled into a war that you don’t want to fight, which is what the Vietnam draft was for these kids,” Crory said. The characters in the play are placed in a situation they don’t necessarily want to be in ~ or at least for which they don’t feel entirely prepared. Today, seniors who graduate really don’t know what to expect, which can make things very difficult. However, Crory pointed out that the play is by no means a protest. “This play is not a history lesson, the war is in the background but the play is not about the war, it’s about the people,” he said. The characters each have their own separate storylines, which all find a way to intersect.
Don’t be thrown off by the fact that Moonchildren is a play. The typical college kid would much rather go see the latest action flick that requires no thought whatsoever than attend a play. This is simply because most people think plays are just plain boring. Well, this one is not. “This really is a play that is all about young people’s lives. That means it’s all about relationships, sex, and violence. There are a lot of things here that people usually go to the movies to see, and this is a chance to go to the theatre and see it in a different setting,” Crory said. The subject matter of the play is by no means PG. In fact, it’s much closer to an R rating. It is loaded with foul language and even brief nudity. That’s right guys, I said nudity.
Moonchildren,” opens Nov. 8th and plays through to the 18th. Tickets are $7 Gen.l Admission, $5 for seniors and FSC students. They will be available at the door. For more info or to reserve tickets, contact the box office at (978) 665-3347.
