photo courtesy of Ann H on pexels.com
Auburn University at Montgomery Theatre readies for its spring play “Fool for Love” that opens Thursday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m.in the AUM Theatre in Taylor Center.
“Fool for Love” is a 1983 play written by Sam Shepardand the AUM Theatre is bringing this very heavily loaded love story to life by assistant professor of theatre and director Michael Krek.
Audiences should leave their children at home as the play is “Rated R and contains violence, strong language, profanity, and challenging subject matter including sexual situations, obsession, stalking, abandonment, suicide, incest, and alcohol use,” per the disclaimer published by AUM Theatre.
Design elements throughout the performance include a shotgun, flashes of light, and sound effects of a gunshot, coyotes and various explosions.
The story is between two hostile loves Eddie, played by Samuel “Goose” Alford and May, played by Sam Crevensten, and their twisted incestuous relationship all while being watched over by a ghostly man who seemingly has connections with the two problematic lovers.
Crevensten, a senior theatre major, originally was cast as the understudy for the character May until she recently stepped into the main role.
Alford, who is a senior computer science major, said Wednesday night after rehearsal that he is excited to play a character like Eddie.
“I’ve grown up in Arizona for more than a decade, and I’ve been around all of these western themes, so a lot of the rootin’ tootin’ cowboy is very much my style.”
“Goose” also said he’s excited to step into his character and play him out and all of his inner thoughts that are such a key part of the play’s story.
The entire play takes place in a rustic seedy motel on the edge of the Mojave Desert in eastern California. Stage designer Ada Withers, a fine arts major focusing on painting and drawing, explained her approach to laying out the stage saying that the motel was meant to look like how a 1950’s built motel would look in the 1970’s.
“It’s very western inspired. It’s supposed to be run-down. May doesn’t have a lot of money, she works as a cook so she can’t afford a good motel.”
Ada went on to say that the room was designed to be very fragmented to match Eddie and May’s relationship with a bed on one side and a table on the other with a lot of space in-between.
Stage director Grace Brennan, a communication/theatre senior, said the one thing she’s excited about is to see the fruits of everyone’s labor pay off.
“I’m most excited about how they’re going to feel afterwards. It’s been so stressful and a lot of creative problem solving.” Brennan added that she’s happy to know that everyone’s family will finally be able to see it as well. “They’re just going to be so happy.”
AUM Theatre’s production of “Fools for Love” opens Thursday, April 9 at the AUM Theatre at 7:30 p.m. and runs from the 9-11 and then the following weekend on April 16-18 and ends with a final Sunday matinee on April 19 at 2 p.m.
General admission is $10; for military and senior citizens admission is $5, and for students, faculty and staff admission is free.
The play stars Samuel “Goose” Alford as Eddie, Sam Crevensten as May, Nicholas Hall as Martin and Jay Walker Russell as The Old Man.
