AUM Theatre is garnering major recognition for their last two stage plays “Buddies” & “RED;” the two directors, Michael Krek (“RED”) and Neil David Seibel (“Buddies”) were given awards for Meritorious Achievement for Excellence in Direction by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
In the fall of 2024, the production “Red” celebrated several outstanding achievements. Ada Withers received awards for both Allied Crafts in Scenic Art and Scenic Design, while Sarah Paterson was recognized for Costume Design. Aaron Rudnick took home the award for Lighting Design, and Tiara Staples earned accolades for Sound Design. Dusti RW Levy was honored for Dramaturgy, and Tara Laurel excelled in Stage Management. Michael James Pritchard and Jay Russell both received recognition for their performances.
In the spring of 2024, “Buddies” also shone, with Tiara Staples again acknowledged for Stage Management and Meadow Lokey and Michael James Pritchard earning awards for their performances. Additionally, Michael Krek from “Red” and Neil David Seibel from “Buddies” were awarded Meritorious Achievement for Excellence in Direction.
(Photo Courtesy of Frank C. Williams)
On October 13, AUM Theatre wrapped their showings of “RED” written by screenwriter John Logan and directed by AUM’s own Michael Krek. The play is a two-actor performance that consists of quick and snappy dialogue. “RED” takes a retrospective and introspective look into the budding world of Pop Art through the eyes of famous artist Mark Rothko while looking at the existentialism that many artists ponder on and use as inspiration for their art.
“RED” sees Rothko struggle to come to terms with the emergence of a new generation of pop art. Rothko takes on an apprentice who he employs to help him with his creations and daily tasks needed to keep the shop up and running. Rothko’s protege, Ken, gives a look at the old and new generations of art through the eyes of someone inspired by the old generation but is intrinsically a part of this budding generation of art. Rothko struggles to understand the appeal of Pop Art and why it is so popular. Rothko’s failure to comprehend why pop art is gaining more attention, and frankly more importance to the next generations, begins to eat away at him, which drives his employee and protege further and further away.
The play gives an interesting look into how people deal with change, specifically new normals. Many of the beliefs and traditions do not get passed down for one reason or another. “RED” explores the evolution of art into new traditions that do not follow the old ways but are inspired by those and carry the spirit of the last generation.
Although “RED” focuses on painting, there are many different forms of art that go through the same cycle that we see in “RED.” Whether it is music, movies or even clothes, the art humans create go through distinct phases, but this does not make one phase or generation better than the other.
This sentiment can be applied to life itself and with the formation of new generations. New thoughts are introduced into the marketplace of ideas overtime. This emergence of new distinct thoughts creates new status quos that can be hard for the last generation to adapt to.
“RED” is not the only AUM Theatre play getting recognition. Last Spring, Theatre AUM put on a production of a play called “Buddies’ written by Ben Abbott and directed by AUM’s own Neil “ND” Seibel. The play stars AUM students Michael Pritchard and Meadow Lokey in the lead roles.
(Photo Courtesy of Cameron Harris)
“Buddies” is a self-described “bro-mantic comedy” tackling the modern social issue of loneliness that plagues the male sphere. The play takes an interesting look at what makes male friendships tick. The play looks at many different demographics and the challenges of making and keeping male friends. In an interview with AUM Live, actor Tara Laurel, who plays Erica in the play, said, “They have to figure out, what in the world do adult men do as friends?”
The play finds balance by presenting serious issues in a nuanced way while also being able to stay light-hearted and entertaining. This nuance is highlighted in a scene where one of the male characters must come to grips with the fact that he still may harbor some slight homophobia after finding out one of the other males is a gay man; this is done in a light-hearted way that does not make the situation awkward. Director Seibel said, “The difficulty didn’t come from the issues themselves but portraying [it] while also trying to keep the comedic elements of the play.”
The play also was a hit with students and faculty alike. Throughout the play, the audience stayed engaged and you could hear genuine laughter in the audience during the comedic scenes. This was echoed by audience member and Psychology student Jermaine Knight who said, “I enjoyed the acting and the effects were a step up from previous AUM Theatre plays.”
The play was an original written by Ben Abbott. This means the director had a lot of leeway when it came to production and the development of the play. “Buddies” is a callback to classic romantic sitcoms with a twist. The play’s focus is a subject that is not explored in much depth in the modern day. The actors and director do an excellent job of making you feel like these are real characters with genuine conflicts and feelings. When asked about the challenges of adapting a script that he has no references for Seibel said, “I was inspired by dialogue in sitcoms and dramas.” He went on to say, “It was like a puzzle, I had to research the genre and put the pieces together that fit.”
