Politics and expression will mix for the next four Tuesdays at Theater X to produce unexpected results.
Totally Random Tuesdays is starting its run this semester tonight with a public forum in response to last week's court of appeals case, which addressed the rights of acting students. The court looked at free speech, who decides what students will say on stage and whether dramatic dialogue is speech in the eyes of the law. No decision was reached except that the case will be retried.
The 10 students who make up the Totally Random Tuesdays troupe will read excerpts from the court's opinion followed by a discussion led by UNM law Professor Ted Occhialino, Municipal Judge William Lang, President of the UNM chapter of the American Association of University Professors Hugh Witemeyer and acting professors Paul Ford and Denise Schultz.
"Because we only do one rehearsal and one performance, that makes us the only production who can change what we do in response to current events," director Henry Bial said. "I feel like we have a responsibility to do that."
Because of this spontaneous format, the cast sometimes won't see the script until the day before the show. Bial randomly picks American contemporary plays that can be, and have been, switched out at the last minute to cover things such as this court ruling. The only criteria for the plays are that they are new work, and Bial likes it.
"This is a really good chance for our students to see work that has never played Albuquerque and may never play Albuquerque," Bial said. "Our emphasis is on new work."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
In their third semester of Random Tuesdays, the actors are getting to do things they may never have gotten to do without this format.
"The main thing is that because this is a staged reading with a small investment of time, the actors get a chance to play roles they wouldn't get a chance to in a full production," Bial said.
He said that the group has played cross-gender, cross-racial and cross-generational parts.
"You can get away with a lot more in a reading that an audience wouldn't accept in a production," he said.
Although the actors hold their scripts during the production, they try hard to not make it a dull night. Last semester they even produced a puppet show with a choreographed dance number.
After the show, the audience is invited to take part in talk about contemporary theater.
"Our education mission in the department is not just for the actors but for the students who come to see it," Bial said.
Slated for the rest of the semester, but highly subject to change are "Our Lady of 121st Street" by Stephen Adly Gurgis, and "Anna in the Tropics" by Nilo Cruz. Both were winners of the Pulitzer Prize.
What: Totally Random Tuesdays
When: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Theatre X
How
much: Free
