Amid the rainy weather of friends and family weekend, members of the Mount Holyoke College community gathered in Rooke Theatre for a sold-out performance that marked the first theatrical production of the 2023-24 school year. Soccer balls were kicked — not into the audience, as Melanie Cosdon ‘26 mentioned to the Mount Holyoke News with pride — whistles were blown and the audience was moved to tears.
During the weekend of Nov. 18, the Department of Film Media Theater acted out selected scenes from the play “Short Eyes.” Performing two shows, they hosted talkbacks after each as well as a symposium on Friday, Nov. 18.
“Short Eyes” by Miguel Piñero, which premiered in 1974, follows a group of inmates who meet in a house of detention and turn against a prisoner accused of child molestation. Based on Piñero’s own experiences, the play unabashedly depicts the lives of those living in the American incarceration system. It explores themes of morality and justice, as well as what it means to find humanity within a dehumanizing institution.
One might not expect a “History of the United States” from a French theater company, but Compagnie L’Héliotrope’s production of “Angela Davis, A History of the United States” did just that this past weekend at Rooke Theater. The one-woman play features a combination of monologues, music and media that provide an insightful look into the life and work of African-American scholar and activist Angela Davis from an international perspective.
By Rowan Berstein ’22 & Rose Cohen ’22
Staff Writer | Arts & Entertainment Editor
Photo courtesy of Wei Shao ‘22
The show’s lighting was by Rori Haft ‘25, with set design by Wei Shao ‘22
Beginning on March 31 and running through April 3, Rooke Theatre staged the first live, in-person production of Azure D. Osborne-Lee’s new full-length play, “Red Rainbow.” The play, which has its characters embark on a fantastical journey through a strange world, was selected as a part of the film, media, theater department’s effort to center nonwhite narratives.
Photo courtesy of Wei Shao ‘22
Mount Holyoke student actors perform in the first live, in-production of Azure D. Osborne Lee’s new full-length play, “Red Rainbow,” which ran from March 31 to April 3
“Red Rainbow,” directed by Theatre Arts major Zoë Fieldman ’22, follows a young woman named Ixchel (Arianna Peña ’25) as she and her friend Nathaniel (Adjoa Baidoo ’24) are transported through a circle of mushrooms to a magical world. Along with strange beings, like a sentient network of mushrooms, Ixchel meets gods and humans who help her connect with her Mayan heritage. They also teach her how to give her abuelita, whose spirit is caught between life and death, a proper funeral — one appropriate to her culture.
Ixchel shares her name with a Mayan goddess of healing and midwifery, a fact that was explained in an insert in the show’s program, which elaborated on some of the cultural details found in the play.
Georgia Rose ’25, who played Sunface or El Sol Sí Mismo , an antagonist who pursues the main characters on their journey, had a positive experience acting in the play. “What I loved so much about this production was that it was very collaborative,” Rose said. “Whenever we had an idea or a concern, [Fieldman] was so open and took our thoughts into consideration much more than any other production I’ve been in.”
Maelyn Brade ’25, who took on the role of Officer, echoed what Rose said about being involved in “Red Rainbow.”
“My experience working on ‘Red Rainbow’ has been nothing but magical, in more ways than one,” Brade said. “Throughout the process I feel I got to know more about the theater department, while also bonding with some amazing people.”
Fieldman found it important to foster this kind of environment during the duration of the play and the rehearsals leading up to it. “I am much more interested in experimental and non-traditional work … under which the role ‘director’ looks much different than as we learn about it to be,” they said. “I wanted to choose a cast that would work with me and be excited about collaborating on their performance.”
Part of this collaborative process included stage combat, choreographed by Assistant Professor of Film Media Theater Noah Ilya-Alexis Tuleja. Sunface wields an axe in the play, intending to participate in a ceremonial battle between the Sun and the Morning Star, or Venus, representing the eternal conflict of the two celestial bodies. This relationship becomes a problem for the protagonists, as Sunface expects Nathaniel to take on the role of his adversary.
“My quarantine hobby was learning from lightsaber videos on TikTok,” Rose said, “so, I think I was well prepared to handle the axe.”
It’s fitting that Rose drew inspiration for the role from her time in quarantine, as “Red Rainbow” takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Feelings of isolation and a desire to escape influence the characters’ motivations throughout the play. In fact, their journey begins with Nathaniel trying to get Ixchel out of the house after months of isolation. Additionally, many moments of comedy come from references to the pandemic, like Ixchel and Nathaniel struggling to put on their gloves and face masks.
In an unexpected moment during the Saturday evening performance, one of Nathaniel’s ear loops snapped as he attempted to put on his mask. Baidoo quickly recovered with an improvised line about always bringing a spare, and was met with laughter from members of the audience — it seemed that many could relate to the feeling of a mask mishap.
Fieldman commented on Baidoo’s improvisation, “I encouraged the cast to have some fun with the script and to improvise a bit — though not too much or else our stage manager would have difficulty calling the show — as an attempt to work with a script that was also still in process.”
The script of “Red Rainbow” is described as a “living document” in Fieldman’s director’s note, and the production at Rooke Theatre was the first time the show was staged in person after it was written in 2020 and initially premiered over Zoom.
“It was my intention to find a new play going into this process,” Fieldman said. “ I am more interested in process oriented art making versus a more final product focus.” Future productions of “Red Rainbow” will likely look quite different from this one, but Mount Holyoke had a unique opportunity to showcase the play so early in its life.
Editor’s note: Arianna Peña ’25 is a member of Mount Holyoke News.
For one Black student in the Mount Holyoke film, media and theater department, it was “a dream to be able to work on a play like this and design for actors who looked like her,” visiting lecturer Michael Ofori said. The FMT department held performances of its production of American playwright Lynn Nottage’s “Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine” from Oct. 21 through 24. This was the department’s first in-person production since the beginning of the pandemic, and the performance was held in Rooke Theater, with seating at 75 percent capacity.
The Mount Holyoke College department of film, media and theater will open Lynn Nottage’s 2004 play, “Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine,” on Thursday, Oct. 21. The show will run until Sunday, Oct. 24 and will be directed by visiting lecturer in film, media and theater Michael Ofori, who teaches acting, “as well as various other courses in interdisciplinary arts and African theater and performance,” according to his staff biography.
BY ELLA WHITE ’22
The play by Sarah Treem takes place in the 1970s, specifically in the weeks leading up to the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade, and is set in a safe house for abused women looking to escape unhealthy relationships. Agnes, who runs the safe house with her daughter, Penny, takes in a woman named Mary Anne, who changes their monotonous lives when she encourages Penny to flirt and wear dresses, setting a precedent in the household
BY MIRANDA WHEELER ’19
Award-winning actor and playwright Keith Hamilton Cobb has accumulated a variety of impressive credits over the course of his screen and stage career, but none quite like “American Moor.” The self-written and largely self-performed play explores Cobb’s relationship as a black man in America to Shakespeare’s tragic protagonist Othello.
Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke College
Chinese Yue Opera stars Qi Tao (L) and Jun’An Wang (R) performed scenes at Mount Holyoke last week.
BY RENN ELKINS ’20 AND HEALY MILLER ’19
Mount Holyoke’s Rooke Theatre hosted a performance of Chinese Yue Opera scenes featuring award-winning actors Jun’an Wang and Qi Tao on Friday, Oct. 26. Wang and Tao flew in from China specially for this event and performed three scenes from the classic operas “Liu Yi Delivers a Letter for the Dragon King’s Daughter,” and “Searching for and Probing the Wife,” featuring full costume, makeup and choreography.
BY MIRANDA WHEELER ’19
“Well, women are used to worrying over trifles,” said Mr. Hale, played by Kylie Levy ’21 in last week’s production of Susan Glaspell’s 1916 one-act play “Trifles,” directed by Brianna Sloane. With set design by technical director Shawn Hill, lighting design by Lara Dubin, costume design by Elizabeth Lowe ’19 and dramaturgy from Heidi Holder, the one-act play opened Rooke Theatre’s Fall 2018 season.
