Senior stars in off-Duke production

Once upon a time, in an unnamed totalitarian state, a six-year-old child decides that she is Jesus Christ. Wearing a beard and a crucifix, senior Alessandra Colaianni enjoyed an ironic Easter weekend rehearsal.

Colaianni's religious transformation is a small part of The Pillowman, a play produced by Durham's Manbites Dog Theater. As the only Duke student in this professional production, Colaianni has taken the initiative in stepping across the infamous Duke-Durham divide.

"It's been a completely different experience," she said. "There's really avant-garde stuff at Manbites, and an energy that I've never seen before. It's really cool that they let students be a part of it."

Most of the action in the The Pillowman takes place inside an interrogation room, where police question a writer about a series of crimes that bear a remarkable resemblance to his short stories. The play addresses the nature of storytelling and the extent of the author's responsibility for his conceptions. Colaianni describes it as darkly humorous with a sweet and horrifying end.

The Pillowman marks the first time that Colaianni will act in a non-Duke related production. She has been a part of the sketch comedy troupe Inside Joke for her entire time at Duke and has acted in eight plays since her sophomore year.

"I came to Duke thinking I was going to take a break from theater for a while," Colaianni said. "But it got its claws into me again."

She became involved in The Pillowman at the request of Jay O'Berski, professor of theater studies and associate artistic director of Manbites Dog Theater.

"We hired Alessa because she's as solid as a metal desk, has the guts of a manatee and resembles a tiny green pixie," O'Berski said in an e-mail. "She has made Pillowman the wholesome, family entertainment it deserves to be."