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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>Ethan Clarke, Jake DeShiro and Joey Lloyd are a trio of misfits in Stephen Karam’s “Speech & Debate.” (溏心vlog免费B站 Photos\/Jesse Dufault)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n One of the key messages of the play, said Weber, is that while they may be considered young, adolescents should be respected for who they are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAdults get this perception that people this age aren\u2019t completely developed, aren\u2019t able to speak to what they need or what is harming them,\u201d Weber said. \u201cSo, they\u2019re often censored and they\u2019re forced into a mold where they are considered not old enough or competent enough to provide input.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cast members who play the misfits, not too far removed from high school themselves, bring a level of truth to the play. \u201cIn the table readings, it became clear that each of these actors have had experiences so similar to these characters and have been able to bring so much of their own personal experience into fleshing out these characters and making them three dimensional,\u201d Weber said. \u201cIt\u2019s really fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jake DeShiro, a freshman majoring in marine biology and theatre, plays Howie; Ethan Clarke, a sophomore theatre major, plays the awkward Solomon; and Joey Lloyd, a senior theatre major, plays the loud and opinionated Diwata. Ella Kenny, a junior theatre major, rounds out the four-person cast, playing roles of a teacher and reporter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of Lloyd\u2019s favorite parts of the play is how it portrays young people who are trying to find their way despite the interference of adults and other kids. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe characters find community together because they have no one else they can be themselves with,\u201d said Lloyd, of Narragansett. \u201cI love how the characters use humor to work through their pain. It\u2019s very realistic and relatable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe three main characters have different backgrounds and desires but they come together for a common purpose, said DeShiro, of Norwood, Massachusetts. \u201cThe main message is to love and accept yourself and to be proud of who you are and what you do. I wanted to be in this show because it has such a great message.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the one-act play\u2019s 90 minutes, the audience will become connected to characters who are \u201cvery real individuals,\u201d with distinct personalities, said Clarke, of Seekonk, Massachusetts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are so many awkward and uncomfortable moments in the show that will make both the audience and actors cringe,\u201d Clarke said. \u201cWhile it may seem natural to shy away from such moments, it is by embracing them and laughing at ourselves and these characters that we grow and learn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Costume designer EJ Caraveo, a senior theatre major from Tiverton, helps bring out each character\u2019s individual personality by using different color schemes in the contemporary clothing each character wears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI had a lot of fun designing this show because of the era the play is set in,\u201d said Caraveo. \u201cAs someone who grew up around this timeframe, it was a lot of fun looking back at the fashion trends. It was a diverse time in terms of clothing so it was easy to find styles that fit the characters well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Set designer Kayla Senn, a sophomore theatre major from Long Island, New York, said the set also helps the actors get into their characters. The play moves quickly from scene to scene and Senn uses pieces from a standard classroom, helped by lighting, to create different settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the cast and crew, Senn said, the show has a special meaning because it is the academic year\u2019s student-run production, in which students take on all the on-stage and behind-the-scene jobs\u2014with assistance from faculty where needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something really important about the educational and artistic opportunity of making something on our own,\u201d Weber said. \u201cIt\u2019s the application of ideas we\u2019ve learned rather than being told how to apply the ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe play is literally about young people finding out who they are and trying to make their mark on the world,\u201d Lloyd said. \u201cThe show really speaks to the younger generation and the struggles and joys we experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along with Weber, Caraveo and Senn, the all-student crew includes assistant directors Jay Moxley and Emersyn Nutting, lighting designer Caoilfhionn Farrell, assistant lighting director Meghan Turner, technical director Sam Cote, sound designer Erin Grafing, projection designer Aaron Adams, and production stage manager Theo Fantozzi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSpeech & Debate\u201d<\/strong> runs Dec. 7-9 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. in J Studio at the Fine Arts Center, 105 Upper College Road, Kingston Campus. Tickets are $10 for the general public and $5 for senior citizens and 溏心vlog免费B站 students, faculty and staff. Tickets can be purchased online<\/a>, by calling (401) 874-5843 or at the box office in Room 101H of the Fine Arts Center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Nov. 28, 2023 \u2013 The 溏心vlog免费B站 Theatre Department will close out the first half of its season with Stephen Karam\u2019s dark comedy \u201cSpeech & Debate,\u201d which opens Thursday, Dec. 7, for a four-day run in the Fine Arts Center J Studio, 105 Upper College Road. Set in the early […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":90658,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90655"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90940,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90655\/revisions\/90940"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}