Brian Stevens is particular about how he wants his actors to perform. As the director of “Canyon,” the first theatre production of the fall semester, Stevens pushed his cast to look beyond their characters’ words and show the emotions underneath them.
“My vision for it was to create something that felt intimate and relatable with characters that were very familiar and endearing,” Stevens said.
“Canyon,” written by the playwright and television producer Jonathan Caren, is a contemporary drama about two families whose lives are shaken by an unpredictable accident. Set in Los Angeles in the run up to the 2016 general election, the play explores the pressure of trying to live a conventional American life through themes of gender roles, financial situations, and citizenship status.
As the story develops, the characters are pushed into situations that reveal sides of themselves they may not want others to see. For Sadie Braverman, who plays Beth Schaffer, that reveal is part of what makes the play interesting.
“I normally play, like, outrageous, like, female characters,” Braverman explained to The Bulletin. “I’m kind of playing a little bit more, like, serious.”
When Braverman first read the script, she saw it as more than a traditional drama. She described “Canyon” as a “think piece” that begins with characters who seem comfortable with one another before they show a much less flattering side of themselves.
“They’re seemingly so liberal and chill and understanding,” Braverman said, adding that the characters reveal a much darker side. “Everyone has a tendency to be bad, but this is really bad.”
The production was a change for Alec Rooney, who usually performs in musicals. Instead of singing and dancing, Rooney told The Bulletin that he had to focus on the fundamentals of acting. Among his biggest challenges, he said, were memorizing lines and understanding the motivations of the characters.
“We put a lot of good hard work into it, and it’s just been so much fun,” said Rooney, a student at Orange Coast College. “We hope that you guys love it as much as we fell in love with it.”
Directing the characters and the production are a lot like building a house, Stevens said. “You prime it, you layer it, you do a detail.”
Some of that direction is subtle. Stevens may ask an actor to hum instead of quietly entering a scene or use their hands to communicate frustration. During rehearsal, to help one of the actors find the right emotion, Stevens advised one of the actors to imagine how it feels drinking a cold Dr. Pepper soda.
“There’s certain nuances that you have to add to the character that are very, very niche and very, like, deep that you wouldn’t have to in musical theater usually,” Rooney said.
Stevens said he hoped the audience would identify with various aspects of the characters.
“I wanted people to sort of reflect on the proximity that they felt to those characters when they liked them and how that might have changed or didn’t, when they really kind of started showing their uglier sides.”
Between scenes, especially heavier moments, Stevens continues working with the actors to help sharpen their performances. That effort and attention to detail help build believable characters rather than simply having actors memorize their lines.”
“We need to earn the right to tell this story faithfully,” Stevens said.
“Canyon” will have its first run at the Edison Theatre from Oct. 7–10, with additional performances scheduled from Oct. 14–17.
UPCOMING UNIVERSITY THEATRE FALL LINEUP
The S#!t Show
Oct. 22 | 4–5 p.m.
A free student talent showcase featuring comedy, music, dance, poetry and more.
Parallax: Faculty/Guest Dance Concert
Nov. 12–14 | 7 p.m.
Additional performance: Nov. 12 at 1 p.m.
Directed by Chelsea Asman and Cihtli Ocampo, the concert explores how shifting perspectives can change the way people understand movement and space.
a river, its mouths
Dec. 9–12 | 7 p.m.
Additional performance: Dec. 11 at 1 p.m.
Jesús I. Valles’ play, directed by Stefani Baez, follows a character returning to a Texas borderland hometown shaped by family separation, grief and the Rio Grande.