After a four-year hiatus, theater is back in Withycombe Hall, and a brand-new student written and directed play opens next week titled “I met the Baba Yaga (and she lives in Tennessee).” Now performers and audiences can enjoy the intimate setting of the lab theatre and experience the play’s debut.
In 2022, the theatre arts program moved out of its home in Withycombe Hall due to a major building renovation which included a state-of-the-art dairy processing facility. While many of the productions moved to PRAx, rehearsals and student-run performances took place wherever there was available room, including at the Gladys Valley Gymnastics Center.
Now that the lab theatre is back in use, it is providing a sense of consistency and permanence for students. Samuel Firl, a theater arts senior who is stage managing the upcoming play, said it’s a relief to not bounce back and forth.
“It’s nice to have the same rehearsal space that you’re performing in,” Firl said.
“I met the Baba Yaga,” is writer Addison Hoppe’s first full-length play, and it’s inspired by Russian folklore. Hoppe is a senior in graphic design with a minor in theater arts, and is building upon their experience writing shorter form plays to really dive into the structure and storytelling of a one-act play.
“’I met Baba Yaga’ is about the idea of community and what it means to build a community, and how folklore shapes cultural spaces and how it shapes narrative and how someone tells a story,” Hoppe said.
While Hoppe has long been interested in folklore and mythology, they started learning more about Russian folklore more recently, and the subject seemed ripe for exploration, especially as Hoppe was intrigued by playing around with narrative structure and then taking apart traditional story telling in the production.
Hoppe’s favorite character in the play is Koshchei, whom they describe as a “slimy, slimy guy.” Koshchei is the narrator of the play, an ancient Russian wizard who has until recently been trapped and is now enjoying his freedom and trying to adapt to the American south. He’s being played by Aiden Lafriniere, a freshman from Sitka, Alaska and a geography major.
“Koshchei has been out of commission for a hot second,” he said. “There are a lot of new things for him and he’s taking every advantage of being out of his prison.”
During rehearsals Lafriniere (spoiler alert) was working on a death scene and was struggling with falling convincingly onto the small lab stage. Director Fable Schuyler jumped on stage to help work through some kinks in the scene, including avoiding Lafriniere’s head hitting a large wardrobe placed behind him. They finally settled on him falling directly into a comfy chair instead.
For Schuyler, getting to direct with the playwright in the room is a boon.
“Addison gave me some really interesting insights into things I should be thinking about and it’s also helpful to talk to them about their thought process,” Schuyler said. But having the playwright handy doesn’t mean that director’s own interpretation goes out the window.
“It’s up to the director where that goes. I really appreciate and value Addison’s insight but if there’s something I feel strongly about, I’m more inclined to keep what I feel strongly about.”
Schuyler is the only student in the production who worked in Withycombe before the construction interruption.
“I’m interested in returning to Withycombe artistically because I saw shows in here, and I am thinking about my growth as a person since then, and things I didn’t notice back then, and what I’m doing with it now,” Schuyler said. “It’s helpful that I have more freedom in this space. The last three or four years, the lab shows have been confined to whatever venues are available and there’s a lot more restrictions on those. Since this is our space, I can do more.”
Schuyler is looking forward to bringing a brand-new play to life in the space, especially one that they feel will resonate with modern audiences.
“This story is about community and about queer spaces within community. In times like these, telling the stories of queer people is especially important and being loud about those stories, and letting queer people tell their own stories,” Schuyler said.
“I met the Baba Yaga (and she lives in Tennessee) will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12-14, and at 2 p.m. Feb. 15, in the Withycombe Hall Lab Theatre, 2901 SW Campus Way. General admission is $12, youth is $10 and OSU students are free with OSU ID. For tickets and information visit the website.
