GCU Today Magazine - November 2017

2 2 • GCU MAGAZ I NE The seven students selected as designers for the set of “Tartuffe” paid rapt attention as Claude Pensis, Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Production, took a seat at a meeting last summer. He started the session with a single question: “Did everybody look up ‘deconstructionism?’” The students shifted in their seats. It was William Symington, COFAP Assistant Dean and Scenic Designer, who shattered the quiet. “One of the ironies of what we do is there is a language here,” Symington said. “You have to talk. Theatre is collaborative. We all work together. We have to talk. A lot. You may not know where to start, but start you must.” Start they did, with drawings, screenshots, construction paper cutouts – and ideas, lots of ideas. The tongue-tied beginning gave way to fluid communication and glamorous costumes, ornamental props, spectacular steel-and-wooden scenery and more. In short, the fledgling impresarios who commenced in June with scarcely more than their titles gave birth in October to a grand, full- scale production brought to life by a cast brimming with energy and talent: Moliere’s “Tartuffe,” Ethington Theatre’s second production of the season.  Here are some scenes from their journey. It’s not just hair – it’s status Wigs of the period, fashioned with varying degrees of fanciness, were a reflection of status, sex and age. Some were simple and short. Others were spectacularly coifed, curled and adorned with glittering gems, silk flowers and fancy ribbons. But perhaps their greatest significance is that they were the painstaking, handcrafted result of meticulous trial-and-error by junior Trustin Adams, the hair and makeup designer. Each of the 12 wigs required about 25 hours of labor, Adams said. “And they all started as swimming pool noodles,” he said. Not only the wigs, but every aspect – the lighting, scenery, costumes, props and more – required a profusion of creativity as well as significant labor from a small army of craftsmen. “We build everything from scratch for everybody,” said Nola Yergen, COFAP costume designer. “It’s a huge undertaking.” Undergraduates were tapped as designers for “Tartuffe” because it’s a criterion for competing in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, which showcases the finest regional productions. Students were assigned roles of dramaturg, stage manager, lighting, scenic, costume, props and hair-and-makeup designers. “Tartuffe is the biggest show we’ve ever student-designed,” Adams said. It was also the first time Pensis directed a Kennedy Center production. Deconstructing deconstructionism Deconstructionism has been described as that which challenges the fixed nature of assumptions and things. Juniors Tarnim Bybee, lighting designer, and Keeli Rodriguez, scenic designer, likened it to asymmetry. Bybee imagined a stage illuminated with sparkly orange, blue and pink hues in a hall-of-mirrors effect. “It’s beautiful – but it’s off its rocker,” she said. “I wanted to exaggerate it in an unhinging way.” The status of the family matriarch, Madame Pernelle (Sarah Schalick), is reflected by her coiffed, powdered and towering hair design (by hair and makeup designer Trustin Adams) and the fine ribbons, pearls and lace in her gown (by costume designer Marija Petovic).