{image1} In an ambiguous space of an ambiguous place at an ambiguous time, a girl and a ghost are interacting. The two exist in the vague notion of the girl's apartment, but not in any clear material sense. Both girl and ghost will live through other people on stage in early March. Both are creations of Megan K. Bradley.
Some time ago an e-mail was sent out to UWM students calling for submissions of short theater scripts for "New Voices," a project synthesizing undergraduate playwrights with student actors for a few performances.
Bradley, a student pursuing a degree in drama education, was one of those who received the e-mail. She had written a one-act play called "Visitation Rites," so she submitted it. It joined a small host of other submissions that were read by a group of people. Three were chosen. "Visitation Rites" was one of them, but not at first. Director Susan Finque was impressed with the script, but most likely due to the abstract nature of Bradley's play, Finque wanted to work more closely with her than the busy schedule of a drama education student would allow, so the decision was shelved until later opportunities gave it a second chance.
By this time, Finque was well into development with the rest of the project. Aspects of the two other short plays were coming into focus. The mirror urges to defend and defy authority began to breathe through student playwright John Manno's "Terrorist." Meanwhile, four young Native American boys were struggling to preserve their culture in a world that refuses to let it survive in Jason Altendorf's "Aim." Altendorf and Manno worked a bit more closely with Finque than Bradley had a chance to, but there was a flurry of correspondence between the two when it came time to decide who would be the girl and who the ghost. Thankfully, Finque and Bradley were on the same page when considering casting.
Bradley had the opportunity to sit in on the decision. "That was incredibly interesting," she says of the auditions. "I got to see it alive, somewhat. It was cold, because they (who were auditioning) hadn't seen the script before. I got to see what different personalities do with the words on the page and to see how it can be taken up and changed with the different personalities that internalize it."
Something like a dozen people auditioned. Bradley saw the girl right away. The ghost was a bit more illusive, but there was no need to change the way she'd conceived of the characters. The ghost met with its tangible manifestation and before long, the characters were alive and breathing through other people. Bradley let Finque, actor, actress, ghost and girl work it out for themselves.
This is Finque's first year with UWM. She's been an actor, a director an educator and an activist with two decades spent flourishing in Seattle. She's in with the UWM theater department while it's in a state of flux. It seems to be heading off in a direction which just might bring back some kind of re-incarnation of the late UWM Professional Theater Training Program.
"New Voices," will be a trio of staged readings in UWM's Studio Theatre at 2400 E. Kenwood Blvd. General admission is $8 ($5 for students.) John Manno's "Terrorist" plays on Thursday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m. Jason Altendorf's "Aim" and Megan K. Bradley's "Visitation Rites," plays on Friday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m.
