To ride the train and see the works of Shakespeare or to stay home alone — that’s a question that doesn’t even need asking.
On Saturday, a local group of actors from UNM will perform scenes from the bard’s famous plays for the amusement of all those who happen to be riding the Railrunner.
Lauren Albonico, the lead director and organizer for the project, said she comes from a background of nontraditional theatre and wanted to bring more of it to Albuquerque.
Albonico, a UNM graduate student, said it was important that the Railrunner people work with her instead of against her.
“We didn’t want to do it guerilla style,” Albonico said. “I wanted to do it where we had permission. I wanted the Railrunner in it, so they could support us. Now they are really welcoming and supporting.”
The performances will start just north of the Los Ranchos stop and last around 25 minutes. In June the troupe will perform love scenes from “As You Like It,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” and “Romeo and Juliet.” July is the month for comedy lovers, featuring scenes from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Twelfth Night or What You Will” and “Comedy of Errors.”
August wraps up with treacherous scenes from “Pericles, Prince of Tyre,” “Hamlet,” and, “The Tempest.”
Sarah White, assistant director, said Shakespeare can be intimidating, even to theatre majors.
“People feel that Shakespeare is inaccessible because of the language,” White said. “But I think in a good performance, that’s not a barrier. It’s words we know and situations we know. We have all been in these situations before. We can have a happy audience even if they didn’t know they were going to be an audience.”
Some actors, such as UNM drama student Christina Slyter, said the informal setting might help the audience appreciate the play.
“They would be more comfortable maybe than to go see a show in a theatre or in the X(UNM Experimental Theatre),” Slyter said. “Which, if I wasn’t in this department, I would be kind of freaked out to go see a show in the X. It’s in a basement.”
Albonico said she is worried that the free performances might attract a lot more audience members than the car can hold.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
“I feel that more people will be inclined to want to watch than to be inclined to want to work on their computers,” Albonico said. “I am worried that we’ll have to not let people see it because there is simply not enough space for 45 people per show.”
As interesting as the project might be for the audience, all of the actors are just as excited to perform on a train.
The actors have been practicing for weeks now in a makeshift creation of what the train would feel like. The edges of the would-be car are outlined by tape on the ground, and the seats are plastic chairs with metal poles duct-taped to the corners.
Julia Harris, one of the actors in the troupe, said falling down was a definite concern, while another, Andrew Lieth, said he was worried the ambient noise of the train might impede his performance. Surprisingly though, all the actors agreed that the biggest issue was the audience.
“The audience is now going to become the wild card,” Lieth said. “As much as we rehearse this, the challenge, I think, for us as actors will be how do we respond to that variable and stay in character and stay in track with our performance. People might laugh at us, or be irritated that we’re doing this, but that’s part of the excitement, too.”
Slyter said she performed a play she wrote a while back in a similar setting, the lobby of Hotel Andaluz. She said she thrives off the difficult work environment sure to be present in the Railrunner.
“The kind of work I am interested is the one where you break down the fourth wall,” Slyter said. “And putting the actor where he or she can’t be comfortable. Personally, I am excited about having elements work against my craft in a way. That’s what I like about it. Also, to be entirely honest, it’s a good way to get seen by a lot of people.”
Albonico said this challenging form of theatre is the future of the performing art.
“Theatre in theatres is dying,” she said. “Theatres are closing their doors constantly. I think if it’s going to survive, it has to change in some way. People can watch whatever they want online now. They don’t even have to go turn on the TV. Peoples’ entertainment is fulfilled by that, so that’s why live theatre is kind of dying. Something has to change.”
*Shakespeare on the Train
Every Saturday Starting June 5th
New Mexico Railrunner Express
No cost other than the ticket*
