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![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)