Skip, a corporate trainer, overlooks a comfortable landscape littered with logos and office chairs, while presenting information about the Hiroshima bombing in a sincere tone. This scene is followed by the introduction of a pair of Japanese twins and a device known as the Chamber, which causes audience members to replay violent past experiences.
Luckily, Skip is an actor, as are the audience members filing onstage and into the Chamber in a play called "Hiroshima 2005: The Apology Module."
"Hiroshima" is one of three plays in part one of the New Plays Festival put on by The Brown Literary Arts Program and the Brown University/Trinity Repertory Consortium. The festival features workshop productions by three first-year graduate student playwrights.
"Big John and Little Ben," by Samuel Marks GS, the first play to be presented in the festival, is the story of a father and son down on their luck and how they try to save and help each other, Marks said.
According to Marks, this play, which focuses on family and growing up, will tackle different issues than most of his previous works, which featured characters in their early 20s in urban settings. "This is my first attempt at drama with a capital 'D,'" said Marks, who started writing plays a few years ago while working as an actor in New York City.
"Sweet Dreams of Paris," by Andy Bragen GS, takes place in a desolate, unidentified landscape, and follows a man called Leo, a border guard staying in a played-out romantic relationship because he fantasizes of taking his girlfriend to Paris, Bragen said.
According to Bragen, who became interested in playwrighting as an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins, the play is a black comedy that centers on the themes of borders, citizenship and belonging. He cited the work of filmmaker Francois Truffaut as an influence.
In terms of setting, this play is a departure for Bragen, whose previous works have been set in real or mythic incarnations of New York City. Bragen, in anticipation of audience feedback, had two words for potential theatergoers: "Be kind."
Molly Rice GS set "Hiroshima 2005" at a corporate training session of a company attempting to amicably partner with a Japanese corporation. The play explores the American bombing of Hiroshima at the end of World War II and the way in which acts of violence are connected and create a web of guilt, Rice said. "Hiroshima 2005" is filled with stark realism, unlike some of her previous works, many of which had elements of music and fantasy, she said. Rice said that she became interested in playwrighting after working at a variety of jobs, including that of a rock musician.
Rice said that she anticipates going through many more drafts of her play after this workshop, but is looking forward to the festival. "I think (the plays) will all be great," Rice said. "Very different plays from different writers, each with their own strengths."
"Big John and Little Ben" will be presented February 9 and 12 at 8 p.m.; "Sweet Dreams of Paris" will be presented February 10 at 8 p.m. and February 13 at 3 p.m.; and "Hiroshima 2005: The Apology Module" will be presented February 11 at 8 p.m. and February 12 at 2 p.m. The productions will take place in the McCormack Family Theater. The productions will be free and open to the public.
