After declaring to the Daily 49er in September that his goal for Theatre Arts was to be an “exciting force both on and off campus,” Creative Director Jeff Janisheski thinks he has chosen a season that will connect strongly with audiences.
Janisheski announced the schedule on the CSULB website on Jan. 25 under the headline “Caged Birds.”
“What’s exciting about this upcoming spring season is how unified these plays are,” he said in an interview with the Daily 49er. “They’re all stories about young people essentially, young people in crisis, young people under a certain amount of oppression or struggling with certain confines of their society.”
The first three of the four productions focus around a central female character, but all of them are what Janisheski refers to as “portraits” based on the development of a main character.
“I think that our theater-going community can really connect to these plays in a way that maybe might have been difficult in the past,” he said.
The first production to hit the stage will be “She Kills Monsters,” on Feb. 17. Director Amanda McRaven was selected for this project despite being only director of a play this season who is not from the Theatre Arts school.
Janisheski says it’s about picking the best director for the show, whether they’re from the department or not.
“I chose her because she’s a phenomenal director in terms of how she works, physically creating really theatrical worlds and that’s what that play demands,” he said. “I wanted to make sure we had some one who could handle that physical virtuosity and that theatrical language.”
“She Kills Monsters” is the story of one woman who is searching to unearth the history of her deceased sister. In a journey of self-discovery, she finally finds solace in the game Dungeons and Dragons.
“So, it’s about sisters and where can you find your place in the world and as someone who feels marginalized – ‘Where do I have to go to find my community?’” Janisheski said.
Next on the schedule will be “Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin,” opening March 10. The production is being directed by CSULB performance professor Jaye Williams.
“[She] is doing a stellar job with the ensemble about their connection, their inroad to that feeling of, ‘How do you find your own identity? ‘How do you connect?’” Janisheski said.
The not-often-performed musical focuses on Viveca as she sings and dances her way through the confusing worlds of racism, sexism and Broadway showbiz spanning the ‘60s through the ‘90s. The story falls right into the theme of identity and self-discovery.
“Nora,” directed by CSULB performance professor Christopher Shaw, will open April 14. It is the adaptation of Henry Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House,” in which Nora makes drastic changes in her life to escape the oppression of the male-dominated society.
“[She] make that radical choice of trying to save herself and her soul,” Janisheski said.
The last is a contemporary play called “Good Boys and True.” The production, directed by CSULB acting professor Hugh O’Gorman, will open on April 28.
“It’s really about a sex scandal and, again, about this young man that can not face his own sexuality and can not face himself and all the lies and buried secrets in his life and in his family,” Janisheski said.
In his opinion, each of these shows has a high potential to resonate with the young audience on campus. And though they follow a central theme, he says another common thread to this season is it’s eclectic and diverse nature.
“You have everything from the hyper theatrical world of ‘She Kills Monsters’ to the gritty realism of ‘Good Boys and True,’” Janisheski said. “You have this really colorful kind of effervescent musical ‘Bubbly Black Girl’ compared to the stark realism of ‘Nora.’”