Earlier this fall, the Ursinus Theater Program put together their first play of the semester: Small Enchantments, an adaptation of the story of the ‘Twelve Dancing Princesses’.
The playwright for the work, Lila Rose Kaplan, was an external reader for Ursinus alum Kate Foley’s ‘23 honors project. Dr. Meghan Brodie ‘00 remained close with Kaplan and saw the first screening of Small Enchantments when it was performed over Zoom in 2020.
“I find it exciting to get to work with students on relatively new material, “ Brodie said. “So I always welcome new material and opportunities to work with living playwrights to work on their plays.
She adds, “[It is] a feminist reimagining of [The Twelve Dancing Princesses,] but the feminism of the piece couldn’t be more timely. For me, I hope what resonates with the audience is that women are still oppressed and are still limited by others’ expectations of them and that we collectively need to celebrate women choosing their own paths but also calling for accountability in a society that continues to devalue women’s voices.”
Brodie has taught at Ursinus since 2015, the first person to graduate with a degree in theatre. She started as a self-initiated major in the class of 2000 with a double major in Theatre and English. Since she arrived here as a professor, she has directed at least one play per academic year, along with many before she joined Ursinus.
A specific focus of Brodie’s work is directing plays written by women and nonbinary people, in order to highlight their work. She often approaches theatre with ensemble-oriented directing and consent-based directing.
“Directing should move with the impulses of the actor while making sure that any kind of physical touch or interaction is mutually agreed upon in an environment where it is fine for an artist to say no,” she said.
Brodie compares the approach to chess, as she does not force the actors into positions, but makes sure that they are comfortable with any contact that scenes do have. “Small Enchantments” deals with topics of love and loss. Because of this, consent-based directing allows the cast to be comfortable with each other while also establishing boundaries, creating a well-oiled machine of a production.
Of course, productions are far more than direction and acting. Shannon Zura, professor of theatre and dance in design and technology, designs the set after conversing with the director and settling on a design that best tells the story the actors are portraying.
She then collaborates with Ursinus’s technical director, Britt Plunkett. They go over resources, time, and costs to determine if the set design is feasible. Plunkett oversees the creation of the set, while Zura continues to converse with the director, technical director, and scenic artists throughout the creation of the set. She then works with Steven Maurer, the performing arts engineer at Ursinus to construct the lighting and sound aspects of the show. Zura often has design assistants, with Lucy Fabiszeski ‘27 and Erith Bennett ‘27 serving as the two assistant designers for Small Enchantments. Both will create their own designs for Ursinus’s production of “Constellations”. The students involved in the production, actors and those in PVDT (Performing and Visual Arts Design and Technology) take it as a class, not an extracurricular. It aligns with APEX and gives 1-4 credits, with extra credits being given for outside work.
Ursinus theatre typically puts on four productions a year, as well as two dance concerts, with the shows for the year being decided upon roughly six months before the school year starts. Breakaway, Ursinus’s student-run theatre club, also puts on an annual production — this year’s being Euridyce — which is entirely run by students. Zura and Brodie will act as faculty sponsors. This year, the fall dance concert — “Wren or Hawk, We Fly as a Flock” — is produced by Amalia Colon-Nava. Jessica Anthony and Whedai Sheriff will return to choreograph alongside the collaborative duo, Jumper Cables. Ursinus productions also often have guest directors, and help from alumni and outside sources. Millie Hiibel is a Philadelphia-based costume designer who often works with Ursinus’s production’s costume design. Alum EB Bradigan worked as a scenic artist for “Small Enchantments”, and alumni were brought in as electrics overhire. Brodie notes that they try to bring alumni in to work on shows whenever they can.
With so many moving pieces being involved in the making of a single show, it can seem daunting to be involved with its production. After the audition process, Brodie goes through each student’s schedule to plan when rehearsals should take place. Brodie says that the actors worked on Small Enchantments for roughly 20 hours a week for the four weeks they had rehearsal. Auditions took place the first week of school and the show opened just a month later.
“It’s exciting, it’s an adventure, it can certainly be scary at times, but I have tremendous confidence in the student actors and production team,” Brodie said. “We have a community of trust and commitment so I’m always confident that together we can do it. It’s inherently collaborative.”
“Small Enchantments” was an amazing show to start the year and is the start to an amazing season. The next production is “Rhinoceros” which will run from October 29 through November 1. Auditions for “Constellations” are held in November and are open to all.
