 Image c/o SMC Performing Arts By Andrew Martinez Cabrera Associate Editor Starting on April 18, Saint Mary’s Theatre Department premieres their 2024 spring production, Sent it to the Moon: A Circle of Short Plays. Led by theatre’s capstone class of 2024 in a nearly year-long process of development, this team of students, including help from non-capstone students, have worked to bring to life a series of eight short plays. These plays are either adaptations of existing one-act productions or original productions written specifically for Send It To The Moon.
The involved capstone students played varying roles in the production as they were either part of the cast ensembles for each play, directing/writing the production, or involved in the technical aspects of the spring production, with positions such as set designer, stage manager, or props designer. In a letter sent out to faculty members, students, and patrons, theatre professor Shannon R. Davis described the excitement of watching the capstone leadership produce the show, “They have procured a show like artistic producers; part whimsy, part drama, part darkness, part light–the moon is the inspiration that informs the work. In their artistry, they’ve been building towards this for years, and now they are ready to share their craft and skill with you. I’m so excited for the collective vision they’ve created.” Whereas last year’s show Willow & Houston’s centered around leaving college, Send It The Moon’s motif relates to the moon, as well as themes of, “water, circles, and second chances,” written in promotional material. These motifs carry thematic resonance in each of the eight plays, while also informing things such as the set design. Each play has a distinct aesthetic working for it, positioned in different and unique temporal spaces, ranging from “Merchant sailors in a Poe story, to Helen of Troy, to a modern woman vying for a part in a renaissance faire play,” as written in their official website’s description. It’s akin to last year’s fall theatre production of A Midsummer’s Night Dream, borrowing from multiple aesthetics and not subscribing to solely one visual look. Send It To The Moon goes one step further and ties it to its variety of different narratives, each possessing its own unique flair thematically and artistically, connected via the thru line of the moon and the various other motifs. In a promotional video, senior capstone student Emma Ledesema, starring in Helen and directing Pull of the Moon, said “we want people to just come to the theatre and feel like the theatre can represent them.” Tickets for Send It To The Moon can be found on the box office page of Saint Mary’s performing arts website. The shows run from April 18 until April 21 for five performances.
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