Content Warning: This article contains references to abuse, sexual assault, violence and trauma.
Under a harsh spotlight, “Coconut” (1971) by Harry Nilsson softly introduced a suave cat named Lillie, who emerged from the back of an orchestra stage. The feline, played by Lauren Stephenson (26C), preened and pranced in seductive poses across the stage, twirling her costume tail as she walked. She leapt onto an empty chair an inch away from the violinist who sat unfazed by this scene, staring ahead with dead eyes.
“They massacred us in France, mm, yes, they did do that,” Stephenson declared in a Southern drawl.
The audience erupted with laughter.
On the afternoon of March 3, the first block of performances for the Lenaia Student Playwriting Festival began. Lenaia is Emory University’s only entirely student-written, student-run and student-performed annual celebration of new work. The festival spanned over two days, with 11 total performances.
The series presented staged readings rather than full productions. In a staged reading, memorization is not required, as the actors carry their scripts or rest them on music stands throughout the performance. Lenaia Senior Producer Elijah Bayuk (24C) said that staged readings cater to the playwright’s needs, as they enable the author to hear their words aloud to understand the flow of the dialogue and make corrections as they go.
“In an undergraduate setting, the benefits [of] a staged reading are really incredible,” Bayuk said.
The playwright is not the only beneficiary of this medium. Stage readings also diminish the actors’ fears about memorizing lines, understanding blocking cues and the time management associated with large-scale productions. All students are welcome, regardless of major or theater experience.
“Not only are you able to be involved with it [Lenaia] if you don't have that kind of experience, but you are also encouraged to be,” Bayuk said.
Bayuk said theater struggles to be accessible because of new members’ fear of memorizing lines, and overwhelming rehearsal hours. Lenaia fights against this. For one-act plays, the Lenaia planning committee allows groups a maximum of six rehearsal hours, hoping that the limited time commitment will break down barriers for less-experienced students.
“It really opens a big door to be like, ‘This is a week-and-a-half commitment for actors and directors,’” Bayuk said.
Despite the minimal rehearsal time and use of scripts around the stage, the Lenaia productions are nothing short of magic. The playwrights’ works come to life in the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts.
On March 3, the Schwartz Theater Lab hosted an afternoon matinee. Family members, friends and classmates flooded the building, leaving no seat empty in the house. The first performance, “What Do You Know,” displayed the intricacies of a complex female friendship through an absurd 10-minute conversation between two girls. Written by Kayla Na (21Ox, 24C) and directed by Sofia Hayes (25C), the tension in the characters’ discussion centered around individual hypotheses about scratch marks on a thrifted coffee table.
Next, playwright Elizabeth Fulton (23Ox, 25C) and director LaMari Sutton (22Ox, 24C) presented “Matricide.” The one-act play covered sensitive topics such as abuse, abortion, sexual assault and toxic relationships. As familial relationships crumbled, a self-help liberation goddess on tape, Josie Maier (24C), kept the audience engaged and laughing.
“Matricide” intends to draw attention to the often overlooked or misunderstood aspects of abuse. The line between victim and villain is not black and white, Fulton said.
“No one is a completely perfect, flawless victim, and yet, that still doesn't mean that anything that happened to them is their fault,” Fulton said. “At the same time, no one is a completely evil, cartoonish villain.”
The last two plays of the afternoon block were “The Party Mermaid Play,” written by Dylan Malloy (23Ox, 25B) and directed by Hermansi Agarwal (26B), and “Teeth,” written by Sophie Reiss (25C) and directed by Kailey Albus (25C).
Both of these plays spoke to two different female experiences in society. “The Party Mermaid Play” confronts topics of shame and social mobility. Two children’s party mermaid performers discuss their futures, one optimistic about her changing fortune and one firm in her disbelief of happy endings. “Teeth” confronts the unidentifiable violence inherent in the presence of a male figure. The main character, violinist June, struggles to free her mind and body from an oppressive environment.
“Teeth” ended in a cathartic scene. June, played by Makalee Cooper (23Ox, 25C), stood from her chair, dripping in sunscreen and liberated by the rediscovery of her body. She then walked away from the chair. The other cast members, Lily Eyvazzadeh (26C), Chaya Tong (25C) and Stephenson, who held onto her cat ears, joined her to bow. Applause flooded the room, celebrating not only this work but also the three before, the work of the planning committee and the afternoon itself.
The evening show promised even more stardom. The first play, “Un-American Activities,” written by Danielle Sherman (25C) and directed by Ammar Ul Haq (25C), was truly brilliant. The play follows an American government employee called “the editor,” played by Delaney Ford (27C), who is tasked with censoring the work of a rebellious screenwriter, played by Daniel Bell (26C), who is hell-bent on telling the tough truth. The play’s managing editor, Damisi Akinpelu (24C), works tirelessly to protect the integrity of the American people by redacting phrases such as “critical race theory” from the conversation. On the stage, Akinpelu obscures the audience’s hearing by banging on a wooden piano.
The absurdity of this play lay in its simultaneous distortion and reflection of reality. The audience laughed not only at the jokes but also at the characters themselves, especially at the editor, who wholeheartedly believed in the value of his government work. It was hilarious and yet deathly serious.
The last two evening plays explored themes of sexuality and cultural identity. At the end of “Mother Tongue” by Talia Yu (25C), an older woman who accompanied the playwright in the audience wiped away her tears.
The final night of Lenaia was equally cathartic and chaotic. The evening began with “The Better,” written by Ainsley Powers (26C) and directed by Alex Valdivia (25C). In the 10-minute excerpt performed in the festival, the audience watched a faux cooking show, in which the pickling of a cucumber served as a metaphor for alcoholism. As the show continued, the layers of the characters’ relationship emerged, including the boy’s addiction and the girl’s subsequent emotional trauma.
Powers is a member of the marketing committee for the 2024 season of the Lenaia Student Play Festival. She believes that Lenaia is the perfect place for experimentation.
“Especially in college, you don’t really get that many opportunities to just try something,” Powers said.
The rest of the evening was a whirlwind of emotions. The one-act play “Out of Body,” written by MJ Brown (25C) and directed by Maxwell Gui (26C), looked at gender identity and transphobia through the lens of an alien abduction.
“The War on Georgia Becker,” written by Maya Ashe (23Ox, 25C) and directed by Makalee Cooper (23Ox, 25C), depicted the horrifying pre-teen years and the absurdity of middle-school love. Before the plays began, each host informed the audience of any possible trigger warnings presented in the plays. For “The War on Georgia Becker” host Zach Gunter (24C) warned the audience that the play was cringe. This was a much needed proclamation for the ending of the play, when Georgia texted a middle-school boy “I love you” out of the blue, eliciting collective gasps of horror from the audience.
The final play of the festival, “Hands,” written by Aaron Selby (25C) and directed by Harison Rudnick (27C), presented a snapshot of three lifelong friends on the brink of immense physical and emotional change. This play attracted an intimate crowd, with a line of friends flanking the playwright on the second row of chairs, some holding flowers and others holding in tears.
After the bows and claps, hugs and kisses and compliments and praise, the room emptied. Left standing were many of the executive committee members. They danced, laughed and high-fived. Despite it being 9 p.m. on a Monday night during the peak of midterm season, the members stood around with no desire to leave, relishing in the beauty of Lenaia.
