UWM Theatre Students Produce Spinoff on Chekhov’s “The Seagull”

Theatre students in the Peck School of the Arts at UW-Milwaukee showcased their newest production “Stupid F##king Bird” last week. The show does something in theatre called breaking the 4^th wall. This is where the actors involve the audience in their show. The play is an adaptation on playwright Anton Chekhov’s play “The Seagull.

“This play uncovers all the deep thoughts we have as a people and really makes us think beyond what is what” Jim Tasse, the show director said. The story is about a struggling playwright who is trying to find his hit play and also loses his lover. The show does something in theatre called breaking the 4^th wall. This is where the actors involve the audience in their show. “It really gets the audience engaged in the story,” Tasse said. “This is a more modern style and does a great job getting the context of the story in there,”

Jim Tasse is an actor, director, and teacher at UWM. He has has performed for many local theatre companies here including Milwaukee Rep, Chamber Theatre, Milwaukee Shakespeare, Next Act and In Tandem. With the track record speaking for itself, Tasse’s cast loved to work with him.

“Working with Jim was a spectacular experience! He brings a nice and orderly schedule to the table that helps keep everything together which is really nice for us actors,” Austin Lepper, Cast member said.

Aaron Posner was the playwright in this production. He was co-founder of the Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia and has directed over 250 productions at major regional theatre companies across the country. He was also born in Madison. He is a more modern playwright and what made this show unique was not only the writing style but that each character was in love with the wrong person.

“The Seagull was already a great play by itself but Aaron Posner’s writing brings a new kind of life to the language and feel of the play,” Lepper said.

At this point that there was so much unfolding and everyone dating the wrong person was intentional as a statement.  The show features a seven person cast who are all Theatre students at UWM. Students Tessa Larson, Morganna Milgrim, Stephen Thompson, Tim Gutknecht, Bizen Ghebregaziabiher, Emily Schneider, and Austin Lepper were all in the show. Lepper played the leading role of Conrad, the struggling playwright. His emotions were felt throughout the show as there were many times where he would yell or scream close to the audience. The show also used two live gunshots in the performance which really created suspense and kept the crowd on the edge of their seat. When the actors break the 4^th wall, they are breaking that wall between the show and the audience. The lead of the show, Austin Lepper was surprised at first but really loved what element this style brought to the show.

“At first it was very weird because I’ve never actually broken the fourth wall like this in any of the past shows I’ve done but it started to gradually become more fun the more I rehearsed. By the end of the rehearsal process, it was my pleasure to put the audience in this sort of uncomfortable, not-knowing-what-to-do kind of feeling,” Lepper said

“What Posner wanted to do was to show the people that if we don’t feel something, the show is meaningless,” Tasse said.

The actors speaking to the crowd throughout the show was a way that not only gave the audience a sense of who each character was but also how each character changes or doesn’t change.

In “The Seagull” characters do not address issues between characters and it results in suicide. In this show it is the same result, but the difference is that the characters are telling the audience the issues when they break the 4^th wall.

“A lot of the times when the lines were directed to the audience, they were usually a clear moment of insight into how the character was feeling at that moment,” Lepper said.

Chekov’s writing is known for unpacking so much emotion and that is exactly what happened here. The production unpacked what might be uncomfortable for many people to speak on. Depression. That is something that made the show have such a personal feel to it. The interaction in the show also did that when the audience gave suggestions to what Conrad to should get his girlfriend. The theme of this show is that we as a people should not be afraid to reach out when they are feeling down. Conrad loses his sense of sanity when he finds out that his girlfriend doesn’t love him anymore and leaves him for his mother’s boyfriend. This show is more than just entertainment and that is what the play is trying say about life.

“The ways that people interact with each other may not be how they actually act as a person. That whole scene is like a true insight into the depths of humanity,” Lepper said.

One example used in the writing by Posner was the famous “Circus De Soleil.” His point behind that example was that the entertainment aspect of “Circus de Soleil” was great but did it have meaning? Did the show really matter? Posner uses this dialect in the play. Each character at the end of the story breaks into the 4^th wall and tells the audience what happens in their later lives. This component of the show really brought closure from the audience perspective. With the satirical spin on the “The Seagull” this show brought joy to director Jim Tasse. During the sex scene in the play, it wasn’t shown to the audience but you could hear the sounds of the couple.

“We had a lot of laughs during that scene,” Tasse Said.

The show ran at the UWM Kenilworth Building from Feb 28-Mar 4 and the cast and crew enjoyed making this production come to life and adapting the true meaning behind “The Seagull” Posner’s fashion.