Opening night of “Marisol,” written by José Rivera and directed by Karen Vance, is Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. in the Tillie Lewis Theatre. Delta Drama students spend weeks reading through and practicing the play for their performances.
The show’s playwright, José Rivera, premiered “Marisol” at the Humana Festival of New American Plays, Louisville, Kentucky in 1992 and won an Obie Award in 1993 for playwriting.
“‘Marisol’ follows the self-reliant Puerto Rican woman, Marisol Perez, through a disintegrating apocalyptic landscape where natural laws are broken,” Vance said. “She grapples with her faith and seeks stability amidst the chaos after she is visited by her guardian angel and told that God is dying and an angelic war is going to be waged for the soul and the salvation of humanity.”
When asked why she chose this play, Vance explained: “As a Puerto Rican woman, it’s pretty awesome to be able to produce a play where the titular character embodies that representation, especially during Hispanic Heritage Month. The themes of the story also felt really timely.”
Jacky Castro, the actress playing Marisol, is in her fourth year with Delta Drama. She says that the most difficult part of the process was taking the time to understand the universe the play was set in.
“It’s been a crazy ride playing Marisol,” she states. “There are so many hidden meanings behind this text that it has you constantly thinking.”
“I think it has a really important message for the world we are in right now,” said Spencer Buckman, 2nd year Delta Drama student. “It talks about classism and poverty, bigotry, racism, and sexism and it gives a lot of messages about hope and doing something that people need to hear right now.”
Buckman is playing the role of Lenny, his first lead male role at Delta.
“He has been quite a difficult role for me and in the nicest words, he’s a creep.” he said. “But it is my job as an actor to bring him justice in the end. My goal is to find something right for him.”
In addition to the work being put in by the actors, there are several crew members working behind the scenes to ensure a successful performance.
Assistant Stage Manager Cherri Maie Crouson is on their second year with Delta Drama. They didn’t think theater is where they would end up, but are very involved and happy to be there.
“I wanted to be a stage manager because I like helping, and like to get a feel of every part of theater,” Crouson said. Throughout their high school years, Crouson was involved in their high school Drama Club, acting in plays and being a part of crew for two.
Crouson has also been involved in two productions as an actor in Delta’s theatre.
Joseph B. Tran, Stage Manager, was never in theater before coming to Delta college, but quickly fell into it.
“I was reluctant at first to do theater, but once I saw the shows and how serious people in our age group took it, it appealed to me a lot,” said Tran. “I got sucked into the story telling and how they were performing, and I was like, ‘If they can do it, I can do it!’ and so I did.”
Tran is also the social media marketer for Delta Drama.
“My goal with the marketing for Delta Drama is to show that we are at the same level as Universities and that we are capable,” Tran added.
Many members of the cast and crew are impressed by the high standards kept inside the theatre department.
“I’m absolutely blown away by the levels of professionalism, care, and passion within our theater,” Buckman said.
Delta Drama’s directors are highly trained and renowned, having worked for other theatre companies in the past.
“It’s definitely nice to have professors that are passionate about their work,” Crouson added.
Show dates for “Marisol” include: Oct. 10, 11, 17 and 18 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 12 and 19 at 2 p.m. All productions are held in the Tillie Lewis Theatre, located in the Locke building.
Tickets can be purchased at the Box Office or online. Additional fees will apply if buying online. It is $7 general admission or $5 with student ID.
