Creative-spirited people looking for weekend entertainment can enjoy an artistically themed debut tomorrow and Sunday.
ARTS/West will sponsor the original play Graffiti this weekend as part of an effort to showcase more individual and independent projects from both students and community members.
“We’re really open to anyone who has a project,” said ARTS/West Program Specialist Emily Prince, who also said ARTS/West is trying to increase the amount of shows that it presents each quarter. “Our focus is on the community and on getting more students out here.”
Graffiti, which was written last fall by Ohio University senior Shawn Grindle, is an artistic theatrical representation with dialogue composed entirely of actual graffiti taken from the walls of public places around the United States. Using a very minimal set and three characters to move the plot along, the play explores the meaning of life and the meaning of art.
Grindle said he spent three years researching Graffiti and he got the idea from the bathroom stalls in Ellis Hall, a popular designated spot for student musings, scrawlings and occasional poetry. Grindle said he was intrigued by the anonymity of the idea.
“I thought it was so cool because nobody knew who the others were, yet they were all collaborating on something,” Grindle said. “Anywhere that I saw something written, I jotted it down and kept it in a notebook.”
He said much of the graffiti in the show came from Ohio, until he took a weeklong cross-country road trip with a friend and collected “research” along the way. Grindle said he has also sent female friends into womens bathrooms to scope out the graffiti there, so that the play is less gender-specific.
Grindle said the production lasts about 40 minutes, but he would someday like to develop the script into a full-length play. After tomorrow’s performance, there is a “talk-back” session scheduled so that audience members can give him feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the show.
Dylan Combs, who plays the principle character in the show, said the cast has been rehearsing since the beginning of Winter Quarter and has worked well together as an ensemble. Combs said the show has a lot to say about the meaning of art.
“We’ll look at graffiti, and we’ll just scoff about it because it’s just some crude remark and we won’t even think about what the person was saying at the time,” Combs said. “We don’t think much about the artistic intent.”
Combs added that the play talks a lot about the importance of creativity.
“Art itself cannot be taken lightly,” Combs said. “You really have to pay attention to it and respect it, because it can be dangerous.”
Grindle said both students and community members are welcome to the event, which is free.
“This is kind of an underground play,” Grindle said. “It’s what people around the country are saying when no one else is looking.”
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