Kate Fishman, Managing Editor
Kate Fishman is a fourth-year Creative Writing major, with minors in Comparative American Studies and Dance. Previously an Arts & Culture editor, she is now the Managing Editor of the Oberlin Review. She is a proud Libra and she loves sharks.
![College second-year and Theater major Clara Zucker wanted to put on a play with two of her friends, College second-years Jane Hobson and Claudia Kelly — she just needed to figure out what the play should be. Her high school drama teacher recommended "Athena," a play about high schoolers Mary Wallace and Athena, two fencers training for the Junior Olympics
“After fencing each other for the first time, [Mary and Athena] happen upon an unlikely friendship,” Hobson, who plays Mary Wallace, wrote in an email to the Review. “The rest of the play follows the growth of that relationship.”
"Athena" follows the pair as they train together for the Junior Olympic Fencing Tournament.
“It’s about maintaining a relationship in the face of competition,” Zucker explained.
Zucker decided to produce her own show this semester, without backing by the department or by a student group like the Oberlin Student Theater Association. The set is simple, there are minimal props, and the department agreed to cover the cost of the playbills.
“It’s not an expensive show, and since we’re not selling tickets we didn’t have to buy the rights,” Zucker said. Additionally, shows that are not affiliated with a larger office or organization don’t have the same requirements for purchasing rights.
Of course, putting on a show without that institutional support requires a versatile director and a legion of supporters — Oberlin’s fencing club supplied costumes, Zucker’s friends College second-years Noah Plotkin and Anisa Curry-Vietze are helping to run the lights, and College second-year Josh Turner is doing the sound design, among others.
“[College second-year] Katie Kunka has been coming in during this week and helping,” Zucker said. “She’s just acting as a fresh pair of eyes and giving me some notes and giving the actors notes, which is nice.”
Zucker became interested in directing through the theater program at her high school, where she was able to take a directing class and later put on Annie Baker’s "Circle Mirror Transformation." While at Oberlin, Zucker plans to complete a directing concentration within her Theater major.
“Coming from being a senior in high school to then a first-year, I was like, ‘Oh, I need to find some way to feel old or feel in control of something,’” she laughed. “And I think directing really allows me to do that.”
"Athena" will run Friday, Nov. 8 and Saturday, Nov. 9 at 8 p.m. in South Studios. Tickets are free.](https://oberlinreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Athena_ChrisSchmucki_WEB-900x600.jpg)
![Dancers rehearsed for Louise Wurzelbacher’s senior dance installation in Warner Main yesterday. For some innovative dance work this weekend, look no further than Wurzelbacher’s dual senior show with fellow College senior Celia Morris. The titles of the pieces alone provoke intrigue: Wurzelbacher’s Symbiotic Tendrils: An Organismal Installation is the first piece in the line-up, followed by Morris’ Post-Script: A Site-Specific Performance. The actual performances live up to their creative names. In Wurzelbacher’s piece, dancers will perform in Warner Main Space, but without traditional concert dance set-up and with large pieces of fabric adorning the space. She was only able to put up the installation less than a week ago. “I had to try to imagine how everything would change with the installation and try to communicate my vision with my team,” Wurzelbacher wrote in an email to the Review. “So this consisted of drawings of the space, and getting familiar with my color scheme and the materiality of the cheesecloth as a prop or, more precisely, the tissue of the organism.” After Wurzelbacher’s show, audience members will be walked to the fourth floor of Mudd Center where Morris’ show will take place. The site-specific piece, which will feature dancers outside in the glass rooftop courtyard, will present a unique opportunity for watching dance. “Celia and I decided to have our shows together because we have worked closely together for our entire time at Oberlin, have [complementary] aesthetics and concepts for the way we want audience[s] to interact with our work, and did not want the logistical pressure of an entire night for each of us,” Wurzelbacher wrote.The show will take place tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are currently sold out, but will be available at the door.](https://oberlinreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/LouiseDance_MegParker_WEB-900x600.jpg)
![Mr. Marmalade, a play written in 2004, is the story of four-year-old Lucy and her abusive imaginary friend, the titular character. “I think dark comedy sometimes is not done very well, but [the playwright was] really careful with it in this show,” said College first-year Clara Zucker. This production is her Oberlin directing debut. “It’s really about what our youth are exposed to, and I think that’s very prevalent now with media having such a presence in our lives. … It’s something that I worry about for the future, what it’s going to be like for other generations. What are they going to be exposed to?”Mr. Marmalade is informed by Lucy’s experiences watching how men treat her mom, as well as negative portrayals on TV programs and in other forms of media.“Our interpretation also is very multimedia, with the transitions incorporating more modern ads,” said College first-year Charlotte Wirth, Zucker’s assistant director. The show includes news clips and a recording of professional wrestling. Both Zucker and Wirth directed shows in high school, and quickly overcome anxiety about being younger directors.“Once you’re in a rehearsal space everyone just listens to the director, which is comforting to know,” said Zucker. Because of the dark material of the show, Wirth and Zucker have advertised it with content warnings for physical and verbal abuse, sexual harassment, mentions of suicide and physical harm, and drug and alcohol abuse. Brochures from Nord Sexual Assault Services Advocate Melissa Counts’ office will be available, and Counts will be on hand to provide support if needed on the show’s debut night. She will decide whether to have tap-out people, responsible for helping anyone who needs to exit the performance space, present in the remaining shows.Mr. Marmalade will run this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Asia House Multipurpose Room. Admission is free.](https://oberlinreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/pizza-900x600.jpg)
