Pierre Players keep moving Outside the Box this Saturday

Mar 22, 2023

Alisa Bousa

Del Bartels, front, Rhea Waldman, Scott Lee and Michele Beeler rehearse "An Experiment with an Air Pump" in the Encore Room of the Grand Opera House in Pierre.

As Scott Lee spoke to cast members of the Pierre Players before a rehearsal for "An Experiment with an Air Pump," he emphasized the way small acting touches can bolster the play.

"You’ve got to do everything with your voice and facial expressions," said Lee, the director.

That's because props and traditional stage movement will not be part of this production. The cast of 12 actors will do a reading of the play, rather than a conventional performance with movements, props and other familiar hallmarks of theater. Stripped down to the spoken word, the performance will mark the second in the Pierre Players’ Outside the Box series, designed to augment the group's regular season with personable, reading-centered renditions.

The performance of "An Experiment with an Air Pump," by Shelagh Stephenson, is slated for 8 p.m. Saturday at the Grey Goose Store & Social Club in Pierre. Audience members are invited to come at about 7:30 p.m., and organizers say that a free-will offering will help to cover costs.

In addition to delivering spare, reading-centered renditions of the featured plays in their Outside the Box Series, the Pierre Players are choosing works that might not fit neatly into the regular season. Alisa Bousa, president of the Pierre Players, said some plays that spark members’ interest may not "balance out a four-show season" and might work better in a more informal setting.

"If you only do four shows and you’re trying to appeal to a really wide range of people, sometimes there's a show that you like that doesn't fulfill the requirements that you need for the season," Bousa said.

Lee added: "All of these are shows that we are passionate about and that we love for one reason or another, but we just don't think they’d fit on our main stage."

Bousa said the Pierre Players had been considering this sort of plan for some time, and Lee said the idea blossomed when members performed a reading of "Inconsequential Dreams" by Michelle Schaunaman.

"About a year and a half ago, we had a playwright (Schaunaman) from Aberdeen come to ask us to do a script reading of a play she had written so we could give her some feedback," he said. "We did that, and it was a really fun environment. We’d like to bring that feel out to the audience."

That play, "Inconsequential Dreams," is slated to be performed on the Pierre Players’ main stage in September. Bousa is scheduled to direct.

Bousa noted another reason for launching the Outside the Box series, explaining that it could give more people a chance to participate in theater since the commitment is smaller than it is for a regular production. Cast members are rehearsing only twice before performing "An Experiment with an Air Pump," to be performed on Saturday.

A spirited reading, though, may unearth some potent topics in this particular play.

Lee, who's playing a part as well as directing the production, said the play explores the changing roles of women's participation in science, along with various ethical issues intertwined with science. The play divides time between 1799 and 1999 in northern England.

"In 1799 one of the hot topics in scientific ethics was whether or not it was acceptable to be grave-robbing for the advancement of science," he said. Two hundred years later, he said, topics such as embryonic stem cell research emerged.

Janet Martin, one of the cast members, finds the play's rigorous exploration of science to be riveting.

"I have done a lot of work with these kinds of issues in my graduate study in terms of science ethics and the history of science," she said. "It's something that's always been very interesting to me."

For cast member Jack Mortenson, the style of performance for this production is what piqued his interest.

"I just always wanted to try readers’ theater," he said. "New experiences. And Scott made me do it."

Cast member Crystal Ortbahn has contributed to plays before, but this is her first time performing. Ortbahn said she reads well, but she acknowledged a certain degree of fear when it comes to playing a role on stage. The readers’ style of performance for this play carved an inviting point of entry into theatrical performance, as she described it.

"I wanted to have a new experience and break out of that fear in an environment that feels safe to me," Ortbahn said.

This is the second play in the Pierre Players’ Outside the Box series. Kathy Riedy directed the first, called "Love, Loss, and What I Wore," by Nora and Delia Ephron and based on a book by Ilene Beckerman.

People seeking more information about the new series can visit https://pierreplayers.com/shows/outsidetheboxseries.

Was the information in this article useful?

Thanks for the feedback.

Alisa Bousa

Log In

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,racist or sexually-oriented language.PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming anotherperson will not be tolerated.Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyoneor anything.Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ismthat is degrading to another person.Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link oneach comment to let us know of abusive posts.Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitnessaccounts, the history behind an article.

We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!