Director Paul Kalina (in basbeball cap) guides actors during rehearsal for "Snapshots."
Story Published:
Mar 4, 2007 at 2:26 PM PDT
Story Updated:
Mar 4, 2007 at 2:43 PM PDT
LEWISTON - Theatre is certainly alive and well at Lewis-Clark State College. The program was threatened by budget cuts several years ago, but has rebounded, as evidenced by a new production taking the stage this week.
"Snapshots" is an original play by David Eames-Harlan, a masters student at the University of Idaho. Based on the personal experiences of LC students, it is premiering at the Silverthorne Theatre Wednesday night.
"They (students) wrote stories last semester,” said director Paul Kalina. ”David went through those stories and sorted through the stories and put a common thread through them and built a play out of those true stories."
Kalina is also a masters student in theatre at Idaho. He said the title Snapshots is appropriate, because the play is a bit like looking at a photo album, seeing what is in the image and searching for what is not so obvious.
"It’s about how photographs change over time and how memories change as well, how our memories are slightly distorted, how there are holes in them,” said Kalina. “And then, it talks about the memories that we choose not to remember. The photograph sort of freezes a moment in time but we don't necessarily remember everything that surrounds that photograph. This play deals with what happens outside of the frame. What are the other elements of that photograph that we don't necessarily see? It’s kind of digging in the dirt.”
Kalina said many of the students whose stories are in the play are also the actors. And Kalina said those students reflect a program that is teeming with enthusiasm and growth.
"For some of us who have been in the business for a long time and who are really jaded, it's really great to be back in this sort of energy and the excitement,” said Kalina. “It’s why I got into this kind of work in the first place. So, it's really great."
You can catch Snapshots at LC's Silverthorne Theatre Wednesday night through Sunday. Tickets are just $5, $3 if you are a student and free if you are an LC student.
