Volume 85, Issue 14 Web Edition
SERVING BREVARD COLLEGE SINCE 1935
December 4, 2019
BC Theatre stuns audiences
with post-apocalyptic play
By Margaret Correll
Layout & Design
“Look out for that separation of characters,”
cast member Anthony Zuniga said. “See how
the story evolves with not just the play, but with
the story the actors are telling.” Zuniga refers to
the long-awaited, three-act play “Mr. Bums, A
Post-Electric Play,” written by Anne Washburn
and directed by Patrice Foster.
Brevard College Theatre worked long hours
to prepare for this play, having to delve into a
dark and rustic side of themselves. There was a
lot of excitement during the final dress rehearsal
when Foster, Zuniga and cast member, Lisa
Arrona offered up some insight into the play
on Wednesday, Nov. 20,2019, the night before
the opening performance.
“I would say the rehearsing has been very
immersive, we have done some really good
world-building with this play and... I don’t
know, it’s like stepping into another dimension,”
said Arrona when talking about the rehearsal
process. Zuniga agreed, adding, “You have to be
able to separate yourself from each of the roles,
there’s three distinct acts and each act you are
playing a distinct character.”
Arrona and Zuniga offered a lot of first-hand
experience which was intriguing yet vague,
not wanting to give any important details away
before the show. The two spoke about their
characters with understanding and empathy.
“It’s really fun finding new parts of me in her
and finding new parts of her in me,” Arrona said
about her role in the play.
While Arrona and Zuniga were sharing
some of their experiences during rehearsal and
production, Foster joined to offer a different
perspective on the entire process. “It’s been a
challenging process, it’s a very big play. It’s a
three act play and I’m new here so I don’t know
. ^4^ r. A *
-
Courtesy of Instagram
Brevard College Theatre presents ‘Mr. Burns’ on stage at the Porter Center
how things go or protocol, this was a very big
play to choose as a first play to do,” Foster said.
Arrona and Zuniga seemed to agree with
Foster. “Enjoyable, yet challenging,” Foster
said.
The unpredictability of the play was a favorite
of the cast and crew as well with Foster stating,
“There’s no one that can come and watch this
play and predict what is going to happen next.”
The three hoped that the hard work and effort
would be recognized by the audience. Noticing
the separation between the acts was their final
wish to readers of the Clarion. They hoped
that everyone attending would enjoy and leave
the theater thinking that they had witnessed
something extraordinary.
“Mr. Bums, A Post-Electric Play” debuted on
Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019 at 7 p.m. at Morrison
Playhouse in the Porter Center. The showtimes
ran at 7 p.m. through Saturday with the final
performance on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019 at 2:30
p.m.
The Friday night showing was sold out with
many people waitlisted and only a couple of
empty chairs in the theater. Many friendly
faces were in the audience that night, including
President David Joyce and Lynne Joyce,
members of the Brevard College faculty and
several recent BC alumni.
The cast showed stellar acting skills and
showed many experienced faces and some new
ones. The cast included K’nique Eichelberger,
Lisa Arrona, Claudia Dahlman, Talley Sugg,
Anthony Zuniga, Clara Reichhard, Sydney
Windham, Sallie Marie Watson, Rose Bricker
and Jannie Kurtz.
Act One opened with several of the characters
sitting around a fire, trying to remember the
contents of a specific episode from the almost
forgotten TV show, “The Simpsons.” They go on
for several minutes trying to dig deep into their
brains to uncover the contents of the season five
episode “Cape Feare.”
See 'BC Theatre' on page 2