BW theatre students share a story of family and legacy at Kleist’s Mainstage Theatre with a staged reading of “Appropriate” by Brandon Jacob Jenkins, which premieres on Feb. 28.
Directed for BW by René Copeland, the directing program coordinator, “Appropriate” centers on the Lafayette siblings who reunite at their deceased father’s plantation home in Arkansas to settle his estate. As they are dividing his assets, the siblings learn some unsettling truths about their father and the family’s history.
“The story explores the questions of what our legacy is as family members,” Copeland said. “They discover some disturbing things amongst their father’s possessions that make them question … was he the kind of man they thought he was, or was he something different?”
Senior BFA Acting major Greta Bedell, who plays Rachel Kramer Lafayette, said that this play also explores the “legacy of white America” and its lasting effects on the modern day, with the play being set in 2011: “[The play] is just taking a look at how the family dynamics work alongside the reality of what our country is built on.”
“Appropriate” is a part of The Conservatory of the Performing Arts’ staged reading series, which Copeland said this “dark and twisted comedy” provides audiences a chance to hear and celebrate a “really well-written script” without the distractions of a traditional performance with sets and lighting.
“We try to pick shows for our staged reading series that would benefit from that,” Copeland said. “Like, something about the text is rich and wonderful, poetic, maybe … that will work well just to hear the spoken word, and this play definitely fits that category.”
Because staged readings lack elaborate sets and do not require students to be off-book, the rehearsal period is very short, and Bedell described it as one of the shortest rehearsal times for a staged reading she’s ever experienced.
“There hasn’t been a lot of time for, like, getting super familiar with the script because the whole point is to not be off-book and to just deliver the lines as you read them,” Bedell said. “So, I think it makes it fun because it kind of takes away the pressure of crafting a perfectly formed character…”
Copeland said she is very proud of the work the students have accomplished in their few rehearsals, citing it as a good exercise for the young actors to learn what it is like to look at text and make interesting choices before reading it in front of people.
When coming to see “Appropriate,” Bedell hopes that audiences leave feeling more love for their families and an appreciation for the fact that while everyone may have family struggles, not everyone will have a family as tumultuous as the Lafayettes.
“I also would love for people to just leave with the understanding that even if people… are messed up and messy and whatever, they’re still worthy of love, and they’re still worthy of working to make that relationship work,” Bedell said.
Copeland said that while the show is a comedy, its darker aspects will prod audiences to reflect on their responsibilities to their families and to their legacy, and she hopes it will spark conversations about these topics.
“One of the reasons I like the play is there’s a lovely mix of just sheer entertainment-value comedy, but you also get some really interesting questions posed by the play at the end. So, I would love for people to leave this play dying to sit around and have conversation about it with somebody else who saw it,” Copeland said.
