In today’s age, conversation regarding social networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook are common among children and adults alike; however, it seems the world of art will do anything to comment on these sites.
That is…until now.
Texas A&M University- Commerce will be putting on “The Bird and the Bee,” a play about two adolescents from different backgrounds meeting each other on Facebook and constructing a relationship. Relatively new and a huge hit at the Edinburgh Fringe Theatre Festival, this play follows the life of two people from two different perspectives.
Assistant professor of acting and directing Dr. Carrie Klypchak is the director of the new play. She said the play has not been published yet, but when she read it she got really excited.
“It’s a nice mixture of dialogue and stylized issues,” she said.
The play is applicable to college age students according to Klypchak.
“It tackles some really important issues for younger adults and college age students, such as depression and angst,” she said.
“The Bird and the Bee” approaches these issues in a different style she said.
“What I love about this play is it does not approach these topics in a preachy way,” she said. “It has a nice mix of humor while still encouraging people to get help if needed.”
The name of the play refers to the two protagonists in the piece, but there is a lot more in the title than meets the eye.
“There are many layers to the name,” Klypchak said.
On the surface level the bird represents Jakob, the male lead, and the bee represents Chloe, the female lead.
Senior theatre major Denise Buckels plays the mother of both main characters in the play and she said it was the plays’ timeliness that drew her in.
“You don’t see a lot of shows that include the Internet,” she said.
Klypchak said the play comments a lot on how well you can build a relationship over the Internet.”It asks, ‘do you really know this person?'” she said. “Our play suggests often times you don’t know who you are communicating with.”
One thing that drew Klypchak to this piece was it was still in draft form when she read it.
“There are not a lot of stage directions,” she said. “We basically have lines, which offers us a wonderful approach for interpretation.”
The performance will have a relatively small cast according to Klypchak. She said a small group of actors will be playing several different roles in the play even though she has more than enough people to cast a different person for each role.
This is not the first time Klypchak will put this play on though.
“I did a U.S. premiere at a theater company I work for in Austin,” she said.
The theater company at Texas A&M University-Commerce is only the second in the country with rights to perform this piece she said. Despite this being Klypchak’s second run at this play, she said the one put on at A&M-Commerce will be completely different from the way she did it in Austin.
Since the Austin performance, the script has gone through several different drafts allowing her to experiment with the production and performance of the piece more.
Buckels said this is different from any other work she has done.
“Since we are playing different roles it really gives you the chance to develop several different characters,” she said.
Klypchak said she has high expectations for the performances of this play and a lot of that has to do with the cast.
“The cast has a very high work ethic and is very dedicated,” she said. “Not everyone can play eight different roles from moment to moment.”
The Bird and the Bee will run Nov. 12 through Nov. 15 and Nov. 19 through Nov. 22. The shows will start at 8 p.m. with a Sunday matinee at 3 p.m. For more information and ticket prices, contact the box office in the Performing Arts Center at 903-886-5900.