On Friday October 28, students performed stage plays and showed a short film for Mad Science on Demand. The shows were all written directed, and performed within 24 hours. Theatre on Demand had been an activity at the college for a few years and is open to all students who are interested. They got the topic at 8pm on Friday night and had to put together their shows by 8pm on Saturday. The theme for the productions was mad science, which falls under the PLACE theme for the year of science and technology.
The first production was a short film, Menopause in a Bottle, directed by Hollis Thompson. In the film, two students, Adam and Evelyn, meet with their professor to work on a project for extra credit. The professor traps Evelyn in a glass box and gives her hormones, causing her to have rapid and unpredictable mood swings. After the film, we all took seats in front of the stage in Eagle Hall to watch the stage productions.
The first stage play of the evening was The God Complex, written by Samantha Gallegos. In the play, Dr. Vir is responsible for ending humanity and her apprentice, Wanda, is seeking excitement. While running errands for Dr. Vir, she meets Victor, a young scientist who is afraid of science.
Rachel Mudd, director of The God Complex said her main responsibilities as a director were lighting, sound, and stage direction.
“I had to keep the actors focused and help them memorize their lines,” she said. She enjoyed the experience and sees herself participating next year as a director.
The second stage play was Promises Are for The Weak, written by Edwin Hinojos and directed by Allyson Couture. Professor Chase Morrison wants to get his hands on the youth serum created by his student, Patty Grambles. She insists it is not ready, but he does not listen to her.
The final stage play was Persistence of a Loveworst Mind. The great-granddaughter of Dr. Frankenstein kidnaps a student and replaces his brain with her deceased husband’s. Alex Eyespy goes to her lab to find out what happens to the student and discovers her experiment. Maggie Bunch directed the play and said putting together an entire production in 24 hours was challenging, but writer, Caleb D. Gammons did an amazing job with the script. With such a short time period, there was a question of what to do about props.
“We had to improvise with the props and used the university’s stools,” said Bunch.
David Zwirn has been acting since high school, but this is his first A&M production and Theatre on Demand. He played the comical role of Alex Eyespy. Prior to being in the production, he only knew a couple of people who were participating. The event allowed him to make new friends and meet other people who also shared his interests.
“It’s like Iron Chef, where you only get certain ingredients to work with,” said Zwirn. “We only had a certain amount of time to memorize lines and que. We rehearsed all day from 9am to showtime.”
Zwirn wants to be more involved in the theater program at A&M.
“Dr. Billings wants the program to grow and expand. The more talent we get, the better it will be.”