By: Alexandra Hoolehan, Contributor
Kennesaw State’s Theatre Program is one to be admired. They had the privilege to recreate the infamous legend of The Scarlet Letter. With the help of some of the amazing professor’s within the theatre program, the students were able to recreate the town of Salem, with only the use of two large staged props. The props served as several different scenes, ranging from a jail, to the woods, to varied characters houses.
The costumes were all very fitting for the time. The males wore the black shoes with buckles, breeches and a pale colored doublet. They wore the Puritan hat we all recognize, which is called a capotain. The women wore dresses, with an apron-like over dress, along with shawls, and a bonnet. The cast followed the time and the required outfits for the time period.
The cast not only learned their part and performed, but also made it easier to suspend reality, and get emotionally attached to the characters many people learned about in high school. Matthew Siano played the role of Nathaniel the narrator. Meg Harkins was a satisfying and convincing lead as Hester Prynne. However, the role of Hester’s daughter Pearl, played by Gabriella Gordon, managed to steal the show.
The only criticism about the play was many of the complimentary characters would speak too fast or too quiet to understand exactly what was said. I have never read the The Scarlet Letter, so I was holding onto every word said by the cast. Unfortunately when this issue arose, it was more of a guessing game for me, and I would have to really pay attention to the following characters line. Thankfully, this did not happen often through the play, and I am betting most of it was nerves. It only occurred within the first half hour or so.
I had the pleasure of meeting the cast after the play. Johnny Boddie plays Roger Chillingsworth, the cunning and devilish estranged husband of Hester Prynne. Boddie was also the makeup designer and makeup captain, and he would start the makeup three to four hours before the show. The elaborate makeup could take up to an hour, but the characters with less makeup, maybe thirty minutes.
During our small conversation, I got to ask Johnny about the process in creating The Scarlet Letter, the costume and makeup process, and the feeling of finally performing the play they worked so hard to create. According to Boddie, Dr. John Gentile has been writing the script for this play for years. In the spring of 2015, there was a staged reading on campus to get a feel from the audience. After the final script was created, auditions started in August of this year.
Thanks to Jan Wikstrom, who is the co-director and the vocal coach, the cast was able to exceed vocally and master the “pioneer dialect.” While getting ready before each performance, the cast warmed up together in the dressing rooms, so they were ready for their lines and the various songs through out the different acts.
The play was phenomenal in all aspects! If you did not get the chance to see it, then you missed an amazing piece of art. A big thank you to the directors, John Gentile and Henry Scott, the breathtaking cast, and the Kennesaw State Theatre program.