Sarah Rebell Staff Writer

Innovative, dynamic and experimental theater, the type Vassar was originally known for, is being reintroduced through the Dynamo Theater Lab.

The lab is a senior project, produced by four senior drama majors, that requires its ensemble to work on and perform three different plays twice each within a six-week time-frame.

Each play is directed by a different ensemble member who was chosen by the collective group, which contains representatives from all class years. Both the directors and the cast change the second time each play is performed. Dynamo members thus put on a show in a week, an impressive and challenging undertaking.

The initial idea for Dynamo came from producer and ensemble member Rachel Lee ’08, a drama major who has explored many areas of theater during her time at Vassar. Lee did not want to work on one specific piece for her senior project, so instead she began to think about the word “project” and what it truly meant. She decided to create a literal project, in which people would be able to fluidly and openly work together to create theater.

Lee’s inspiration for Dynamo was former Vassar professor Hallie Flanagan (1890-1969). While working at Vassar, Flanagan founded Experimental Theater on campus, creating productions that were so groundbreaking even The New York Times theater critics often came to Poughkeepsie to review her work.

The ensemble took its name, Dynamo, from the title of Flanagan’s book written about her time at Vassar. “I wanted to incorporate some of her vision into new plays,” said Lee.

Dynamo’s first play will be “Bastard Nation,” written by local playwright John Christian Plummer. The play is a political satire about imagination, abortion, mad cow disease and religious fundamentalism, among other things.

“[‘Bastard Nation’] gives a specific critique of some of the major issues of our country on a political and national level today,” said ensemble member Vanessa Kritzer ’08, who will direct the first performance of the piece. She hopes that the play will “convey ideas in the most tangible and visceral light, making an experience that is effective [for the audience].”

The second play, “There Was No Time Before the War,” was written by recent Vassar graduate Jason Platt ’06. His play takes place in a purgatory-like factory that people can enter but can never leave, and the scenes have no required order.

Both Plummer and Platt plan to visit Vassar and become involved with the process as the ensemble prepares their work for performance.

The third play, “The Rose of Youth,” was written by current Vassar student and Dynamo producer Marissa Skudlarek ’08. It is a backstage drama about Hallie Flanagan’s 1934 Vassar production of “Antony and Cleopatra.”

“I am so happy that Lee will be directing my world premiere—and also a little touched that people want to bring my words to life,” said Skudlarek. “I’m ‘excited and scared,’” she added, quoting a character from Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.”

“We just finished up our Dynamo ensemble-building week and I really trust everyone in the company and the choices they will make,” said Skudlarek.

To help the group work efficiently together, the Dynamo ensemble spent its entire first week of rehearsal doing group bonding work such as viewpoints, an exercise that, among other things, allows people to focus on the collective rather than the individual impulse.

“We’ve tried to have the idea of a well-stocked kitchen,” said Dynamo member and producer Thane Floreth ’08. The ensemble has been using this metaphor to help them prepare for their intensive production process. Every aspect of the production has been arranged so that it will fit different needs and therefore accommodate all three plays and all six visions.

“In setting up the space, we’ve constructed some basic, multi-purpose set pieces. The configuration of the seating can be transformed in two minutes,” said Floreth.

Dynamo’s ensemble also boasts two dramaturges, Selby Brown ’09 and Toni Baum ’08. A dramaturge is responsible for researching a play, thereby “finding new and creative ways to explore the text,” said Brown. Baum calls her work “process dramaturgy.” She is focused on recording Dynamo’s process as ensemble members who work on the three plays and essentially “re-envision theater.”

“New plays are rarely done because they are incredibly expensive investments,” explained Floreth. “This project creates life on the stage without hundreds of dollars of expense and six months of commitments.”

“Dynamo is a metaphor for the way that theater turns energy into power,” said Lee. How fitting, then, that they will be performing in the Powerhouse Theater.