{"id":27713,"date":"2023-04-11T22:06:48","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T02:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/earlham.edu\/?p=27713&preview=true&preview_id=27713"},"modified":"2023-07-26T14:20:38","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T18:20:38","slug":"theatre-department-bringing-next-chapter-of-steampunk-odyssey-to-scotland-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earlham.edu\/news-events\/theatre-department-bringing-next-chapter-of-steampunk-odyssey-to-scotland-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Theatre Department bringing next chapter of steampunk odyssey to Scotland festival\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\t\n\n
\n
\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Earlham College Theatre Department<\/strong><\/a> is returning to Scotland this summer to bring the next installment of a local author\u2019s steampunk odyssey to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department will spend two weeks at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe<\/strong><\/a> in August and perform \u201cThe Further Misadventures of Martin Hathaway: Shipwrecked off Heramathea\u2019s Cove.\u201d Written by Richmond author Kathryn Clare Glen and adapted for stage by Earlham professor Lynne Perkins Socey, the 85-minute play is the second in a trilogy chronicling the journey of an eccentric crew of pirates on the Airship Nephthys. The first installment, \u201cThe Misadventures of Martin Hathaway,\u201d was performed by the Theatre Arts department at the 2019 festival. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe International Collegiate Theatre Festival producers loved our first production and are excited that we will be sharing the next part of the trilogy this summer,\u201d said Perkins Socey, an associate professor of theatre arts. \u201cWe\u2019re very excited to return to Scotland with a second group of students and to see how they are influenced by the wide variety of performance styles they will see from artists around the world. They will also learn a great deal about themselves through this international tour experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery student who went with us to Edinburgh in 2019 said this experience was a highlight of their Earlham education,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Airfare and accommodations are free for students through Earlham\u2019s signature career discernment program called the Epic Advantage<\/strong><\/a>. The program offers funding up to $5,000 for every student to participate in an internship, research experience or other career discerning experience, before graduation. Additional support for food and other festival expenses come from the Arthur Little Fund, which is dedicated to supporting student experiences in the theatre arts. <\/strong>Little was a member of Earlham\u2019s Class of 1976.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur students learn more about what they like and what they don\u2019t like,\u201d Perkins Socey said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAbout half of the participants are theatre arts majors but after the first trip, we saw an immediate shift in all students\u2014they became much more focused, more personally invested in getting the kind of education they really want for themselves. They gained clarity about what they want to do after graduation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The play will debut on Earlham\u2019s campus at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 19, at the McDaniel Studio Theatre in the Center for Visual and Performing Arts. Additional performances are set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday April 20, and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tickets, purchasable on the Earlham Events Eventbrite page<\/strong><\/a>, are $5 for students and seniors and $10 for adults. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the on-campus performances, the Theatre Department will break for almost three months before returning to campus and resuming rehearsals. Twelve students and three faculty members will represent Earlham at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which is the oldest and largest celebration of arts and culture in the world. The festival includes theatre, comedy, dance, circus, cabaret, children’s shows, musicals, opera, music, spoken word, exhibitions and events.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve traveled all over the United States but this will be my first time out of the country,\u201d said Austi Jenkins, a theatre arts major from Richmond, Indiana. \u201cMy family has Scottish roots. This will also be an opportunity to see where my family is originally from. I\u2019ve been dead set on going on this trip since I enrolled at Earlham.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jenkins has been cast in the lead role of Daisy Fitzgerald McNamara, the captain of the airship Nephthys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to participate in something so big,\u201d Jenkins said about the festival. \u201cBefore I came to Earlham, I wasn\u2019t sure if theatre was going to be a hobby or something I might consider for my career. Now I know I want to do this professionally after college.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four performances of the play are scheduled over the two weeks the department is in Scotland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEach theatre company has a two-hour slot,\u201d Perkins Socey said. \u201cThat includes 15 minutes to load in and 15 minutes to load out and prepare the space for the next show. That means that if our show runs 90 minutes and starts late or runs long because of audience reactions, we mess up the schedule for the entire festival. So, if a show runs long, the venue can cut the company off before the performance is over. Our load-in and load-out process needs to be incredibly efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking a theatre production overseas also requires creativity and frugal packing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been very tactful about picking out props and pieces we can use,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cIf we need a book for one scene, how many times can we use the same book? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also have different sizes of rehearsal cubes that we\u2019ve built to match the sizes we will rent in Scotland. Since we can\u2019t pack a set in our suitcases, we will use a platform and six different boxes to suggest the different locations in the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n