Spring Break
The Daily OrangeAdaptation of "The Fever" brings motion, political depth to stage
By Kelina Imamura
Posted: 11/17/08, 1:22 AM EST Section: Feature
Brody Hessin lounges on stage wearing pajamas and a white robe as the audience looks for seats in the intimate, 60-seat Black Box Theater. He clicks away on a white Macbook and occasionally turns to the nightstand for a swig of ginger ale.
The all-white set is clean and looks like a small hotel room. The audience sits and watches. They whisper, as if not to disturb the only actor on stage.
Latecomers enter cautiously not wanting to be intrusive. Yet "The Fever" has hasn't actually started.
"It's OK," the house manager says to the audience, "you can talk."
The lights dim and Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" begins to play. The pre-show opening to the Black Box Players' production of "The Fever" starkly contrasts the rest of the fast-paced and, at times, confusing show.
Directed by senior acting major Chris Dall'au, "The Fever" is the second Black Box show of the year. Originally a one-man show written by Wallace Shawn, Dall'au adapted the first person narrative into an ensemble piece for 13 Syracuse University students.
"'The Fever' is a one man show in the strictest sense," the director's note reads. "As it is written, there are no scene breaks. There are no stage directions. In fact, there is no actual character."
This adaptation of the show is unlike any other show playing at the Syracuse Stage complex this year. Essentially, it is a stream of consciousness story, with all 13 actors reciting the original monologue broken into parts.
The 90-minute show breeds a raw passion. The audience is never able to escape the show and the fate of the Traveler, played by Hessin, a senior musical theater major.
For the majority of the show, Hessin remains in the background as the ensemble acts out his memories and the underlying moral issues that catch his attention.
The Traveler constantly wrestles with the torture and pain in the world. He is an upper-class man, someone with money. A man who travels to poor countries, yet does nothing to change the fate of the poor.
The all-white set is clean and looks like a small hotel room. The audience sits and watches. They whisper, as if not to disturb the only actor on stage.
Latecomers enter cautiously not wanting to be intrusive. Yet "The Fever" has hasn't actually started.
"It's OK," the house manager says to the audience, "you can talk."
The lights dim and Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" begins to play. The pre-show opening to the Black Box Players' production of "The Fever" starkly contrasts the rest of the fast-paced and, at times, confusing show.
Directed by senior acting major Chris Dall'au, "The Fever" is the second Black Box show of the year. Originally a one-man show written by Wallace Shawn, Dall'au adapted the first person narrative into an ensemble piece for 13 Syracuse University students.
"'The Fever' is a one man show in the strictest sense," the director's note reads. "As it is written, there are no scene breaks. There are no stage directions. In fact, there is no actual character."
This adaptation of the show is unlike any other show playing at the Syracuse Stage complex this year. Essentially, it is a stream of consciousness story, with all 13 actors reciting the original monologue broken into parts.
The 90-minute show breeds a raw passion. The audience is never able to escape the show and the fate of the Traveler, played by Hessin, a senior musical theater major.
For the majority of the show, Hessin remains in the background as the ensemble acts out his memories and the underlying moral issues that catch his attention.
The Traveler constantly wrestles with the torture and pain in the world. He is an upper-class man, someone with money. A man who travels to poor countries, yet does nothing to change the fate of the poor.
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