Emily Carbone ’28
Chief Features Editor
Your fall break may have looked similar to mine: visiting home, seeing friends, and taking a restful break from academics. For others, fall break was a whirlwind of rehearsal, memorization, and preparation. Both student workers and actors remained on the hill this past week, preparing for the Holy Cross Theater Department’s production of Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, which opens Oct. 29 and is directed by Professor Milad Azarm.
The play itself is a drama that details the reunion of three estranged siblings at their father’s plantation home in rural Arkansas in the wake of his death. In going through his belongings, they discover that their father may have been a member of the KKK, unbeknownst to their family. The play itself covers sensitive subjects, and its complexities make it challenging to clearly convey each idea to an audience.
The creative team of Holy Cross’ Appropriate, however, has incorporated several different creative devices to properly convey the play’s delicate themes. For example, the play is haunted by the character of the Br’er Rabbit, who is a representation of the Black American experience in times of enslavement and racism. The figure was commonly passed down in African-American oral tradition, and relies on his wit, rather than physical strength, to defeat his larger adversaries (such as Br’er Fox or Br’er Bear).
According to Assistant Director Sophia Routhier ’30, the process of bringing this play to life has been “very impactful.” As Assistant Director, her main role has been floating ideas and aiding Professor Azarm in his creative choices. “I think some challenges are just the nature of the show,” she explained. “There are a lot of complicated topics addressed and each of the characters are very complicated themselves, so the actors have to put in a lot of work to really embody the characters and find the time to connect to them.” Actor Connor Rizzo ’29, who plays Frank/Franz Lafayette, describes this process as “a super great time.” “Over break, we were able to put the polish on our characters and our blocking, and the cast bonded quite a bit. We had a total of about 7 hours of rehearsal a day, and afterwards we would all hang out before going to bed and doing it all over again the next day.”
All of this practice has led to a show that is rapidly coming together. “This is one of those shows where the audience will sit with it afterwards, which I think is so impactful,” Sophia stated, who takes notes for the actors during each run. The intricacies of the show appear to be upheld by each member of the cast and crew, and the creative choices that Professor Azarm, Sophia, and each actor will allow the audience to experience the show through a brand new lens. “I think this will make audience members reflect on their own family dynamics and those who they are about. Overall, I think different parts of the show will sit with different people, and no matter what, everyone will take something away from it,” Sophia concluded. Get your tickets for the Theater Department’s production of Appropriate, which runs from Oct. 29-Nov. 7!
Copy edited by Caroline Gammon ’30
Featured image courtesy of @hctheatredepartment on Instagram
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