ON STAGE: Performing Arts at Our Oneonta Campuses
by Rachel Frick Cardelle

SUNY Thespians Ready for Stagings of ‘boom’ Starting Thursday

One of the benefits to living near a college that I have always appreciated has been the affordable access a college campus gives me to theater, music and dance performances. Living in Oneonta proves my point, for despite its small size there are abundant opportunities to see performing arts. I have noticed, though, that while the productions at both SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College are terrific, it can be difficult to know what is being offered unless one is on the campuses frequently. I will use this space to let the community know what is coming up in the performing arts on our two campuses and give you a peek behind the production scenes.

The first show under my spotlight is SUNY O’s student-directed production of “boom” by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb. This show is a deceptively simple play with just three characters: Barbara (a natural history docent), Jules (a marine biology graduate student), and Jo (a journalism undergraduate student). First developed at the Brown/Trinity Playwrights Repertory in 2007, “boom” is a doomsday comedy that starts with a twisted take on a “meet cute” and delves into how the human race might survive an apocalypse.

In reading the script of “boom,” one begins to get the sense this will not be so simple in the author’s note, when Nachtrieb says, “So, yeah: fish, sex, hiding from impending doom…What a totally awesome play that would be, I thought to myself…” After reading through the script and then attending a rehearsal, I spent some time interviewing Gabriel (Gabe) Gutierrez, the student director, about his background, what drew him to this script, overarching themes he was drawn to in the play, and how he saw his role as a director.

Gabe grew up in Mott Haven neighborhood in the Bronx. He first got involved in theater in 8th grade playing Jesus in “The Passion of Christ.” He started college in the fall of 2020 as an education major, but after being in SUNY O’s production of “Noises Off” in fall of 2021, he switched to become a theater major. In particular, Gabe loves the community and team aspect of being in a theater production, a theme that continued throughout our discussion.

Gabe was selected as the student director by the Mask and Hammer Theater Club, a student organization, after submitting his proposal that included the play, his proposed production team, and a review of any sensitive material that would need to be handled in the production. He was drawn to the play’s dark humor and felt that it gave a nod to COVID, without being too close to that topic. He especially enjoyed Barbara’s character, who talks directly to the audience and gives a picture of what will happen in the future. He also loved how Mr. Nachtrieb had written the script allowing for a lot to play around within it.

There are three overarching themes Gabe finds especially intriguing in “boom,” starting with the concept of where we fit in society. For example, Gabe said, both Jules and Jo are outcasts, students who most would not hang out with in the cafeteria. The second theme Gabe likes to play with in the show is that of how Jo and Jules try to adapt but have trouble doing so in a situation no one has ever been in before, while Barbara has to go through her own process of adaptation during the play and ultimately does that through her unquenchable optimism. The final theme Gabe identified in the play was the competing concepts of free will versus predestination. Jules and Jo are there to “save the human race” despite not being the two people one would expect to play that role. Ultimately, they do just that, but not in the way they (or I as an audience member!) anticipate.

Of his directorial debut, Gabe told me this process has taught him an enormous amount about theater production; most importantly that it is a full team activity, far more than he had ever realized as an actor. Everyone on the cast and production team has had a significant influence on the vision and outcome of the play. After reading the play, he developed his own vision but worked to create a collaborative atmosphere in which others could question and suggest so that ultimately the vision belongs to all of them.

Once their performances begin, the audience will also have an influence on the performance. What makes live theater fun for Gabe is that each performance is personal and different, depending on the audience and the actors that evening. If you go to the bathroom during a film, you can pause it or watch it another time to catch what you missed. But with the live performance—if you duck out for a few minutes—you’ll never get to experience that part of the performance, even if you go back another evening, for it will be different each time. My suggestion would be that you use the bathroom before the show begins, as you won’t want to miss any of this show!

You can watch “boom” at the Hamblin Theater on SUNY Oneonta’s campus April 6-8 at 7:30 p.m. or April 9 at 2 p.m. for $8.00, general admission, or $3.00, with a student ID.

Next up: “The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People” by Oscar Wilde at Hartwick College’s Slade Theater, April 19-22.

Rachel Frick Cardelle covers performing arts at SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College.