After hours of the traditional trust games and repeating of script lines over and over, four local talents awaited their stamp of approval in early September for an upcoming drama.
NIC Theater Department has chosen the cast for upcoming Neil LaBute play “The Shape of Things.” The show will consist of four roles, played by Lindsay Teter, Cole Durbin, Diana Bailey and Logan B. Anderson.
“Even if you’re not a theater person, you’re more of a movie person, you will like ‘The Shape of Things,’” Cole Durbin said, Coeur d’Alene, 22, Theater.
Durbin said the play will be a change in pace from other productions he’s done at NIC, such as “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Lonestar” and “The Foreigner.”
NIC Theater Instructor and “Shape of Things” producer Joe Jacoby agreed.
“It is really gonna stretch these actors,” Jacoby said. ““But it’s not out of reach, and these auditions have proved it.”
Guest Director Scott Doughty said he tries to be involved in ten-to-twenty plays every theater season, and has directed a diverse history of productions, from musical comedy “Bingo” to existentialist absurdist tragicomedy “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.” Doughty said that staging more mature productions like “The Shape of Things” brings him closer to the reason he got his Master’s Degree.
The play concerns the lives of four small-town college students and the intricacies, moral uncertainties and pitfalls of their relationships. Doughty referred to it as an American staple with one of the greatest twists of the 21st century that will blow the audience away.
“It doesn’t come down on one line for the audience,” Jacoby said. “It leaves that for the audience to do, and that’s really appropriate on a college campus, to spark some discussion.”
Doughty said, “I make a point of never taking on a show that doesn’t make the lives of the audience better.”
The play contains some R-rated material due to adult language and sexual content.
“It shows relationships honestly, not in an inappropriate way or lewd way,” Doughty said. “It’s aimed intellectually at people old enough to be in a complex relationship.”
The show will be enacted in thrust format, wherein the stage space is brought out into the auditorium, forming three walls of audience around the performers, making the theater experience more intimate and tight.
“Everyone’s basically gonna be on stage with us, so we don’t have to be as big or crazy, which is nice for such a modern piece,” Durbin said. “It allows us to stay honest, and I like the intimacy of it too, especially given the intimate natures of some of the character’s relationships in this play.”
The casting was a tough call for director Doughty.
“I could easily cast this show two or three times and be satisfied with the quality of the talent,” Doughty said. “That being said, there are five who have showed up who are extraordinary talent for any level, and we are fortunate to have such high caliber talent here at NIC. It’s rare to see such talented people show up for a college production.”
With many students graduating last year, Jacoby noticed there were lots of new faces at the auditions that showed promise, something to look forward to for his Spring NIC production of Moliere’s “The Misanthrope.”
Jacoby said, “This is really great to have a guest director and have him see the talent that these students have and have him think, ‘wow, look at what you’ve got over here, these are some great students.’”
“The Shape of Things” will be playing at the end of October.
