DUI's "O" Show, the Hoof 'n' Horn Cabaret, the A Cappella Jam--orientation week traditionally offers a host of ways for student arts groups to strut their stuff. Traditionally, Duke Players--the student production arm of Duke's Department of Theater Studies--presents The Actor's Nightmare, a one-act play that follows an average Joe through the pitfalls of stage fright and on-stage decapitation.
But this year, Duke Players president Amit Mahtaney has decided to shake things up a bit and present a new show at a new time. "Victoria's Station" and "Mountain Language," two short plays by Harold Pinter, will premiere tonight in East Campus's Branson Theater. The performance aims to show some of the best acting Duke Players can stage. After Friday's show the group has scheduled the Alan Davis Band to perform. "[We're bringing them in] to have some fun, to get to know the freshman and [help them] get to know us," Mahtaney said.
Adam Sampieri, a member of the Alan Davis Band, said that his group would be playing an acoustic set of folk and bluegrass, a departure from their usual sound, arena rock. He and fellow bandmates David Beckmann and Adam "JC" Lord will also debut new material. "We're very excited because we're working on a concept album based on Pinter's work," joked Sampieri. "We're happy to work with Duke Players and help support the arts at Duke."
Why this year's change? According to Mahtaney, who last year directed The Actor's Nightmare, "I wanted to do something more reflective of the quality of the work we do at Duke.... We wanted something politically relevant, to pick something about the humanity, or lack thereof, that comes with war." In an attempt to contrast Mountain Language, which takes place in a prison in an unspecified country where prisoners and visitors alike find themselves victims of violence because of their speech, with a lighter, more amusing play, Mahtaney paired it with Victoria Station, a two-man show about a minicab driver featuring actors and DUI members Greg Anderson and Rob Panter. "We were looking for a short comedy sketch to put "Mountain Language" with, and it turned out that Pinter wrote one of those, too."
In yet another departure from the usual frenetic, one-week-of-rehearsal nature of the orientation show, this year all six cast members and Mahtaney, who directs, studied drama in London over the summer and worked on the show in conjunction with John Clum, Chair of the Department of Theater Studies and faculty advisor to the London program. The show replaced their scene finals in "Victoria Station" and "Mountain Language" run tomorrow and Sunday night in Branson Theater at 8 p.m. Admission is free, although initial seating is reserved for the class of 2007. The Alan Davis Band performs post-show tomorrow night only.
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