Theater Events and Productions Hosted at Green River College
By: Jayden Valencia
Staff Writer
Published October 31, 2018
Green River College performs several theater productions throughout the course of the year between two theater companies, the Green River Theater Company and Heavier Than Air.
Both groups technically fall under the umbrella of Student Life at Green River but, Robin Bowles, the director of GRTC’s productions, wants it to be known that GRTC and Heavier Than Air are very much different. The drama program(GRTC) is completely instructional and falls directly underneath Student Life. Heavier than Air is a community-based company that rents out the space at Green River for their productions. Heavier Than Air is self-sufficient and most of their money comes from their summer programs, camps, and ticket sales. They receive little funding from Student Life, unlike GRTC who are mostly funded by Student Life. “Student Life does not fully support them. Not even close. And in fact, they don’t even support us fully… but we are the academic part of the drama program and they are not. The two programs do not mix. Ever,” said Bowles.
The companies’ styles are also different. The GRTC does more classical plays like My Fair Lady, Much Ado About Nothing, anything Shakespeare. They also do modern plays like Death of a Salesman, J.B, and Bye-Bye Birdie. Heavier Than Air are strictly musicals. “Shakespeare’s comedies are complicated, there’s always several stories going on,” said Bowles.
The GRTC have a play coming up in December called Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night is a Shakespeare comedy that has to do with mistaken identity and cross dressing. The main story is about a brother and sister who are on a boat that sinks and they both think that the other is dead when in truth, neither of them is dead. The sister dresses up as man to keep herself safe, but she ends up falling in love with a man she begins working for, but the man thinks that she too is a man and he falls in love with another woman instead. This woman, however, is in love with the sister disguised as a man, creating a big love triangle. The brother’s story is separate from the sister’s. It sounds like a lot going on, but it is very funny and interesting with a number of other stories happening beyond the brother and sister narratives. The story was written in the 16th century but in this production, it will be set in a club at Greenwich Village, New York around 1958 to 1959. Their costumes and setting will reflect that, but they will be keeping the original Shakespearian language. The only part of the dialogue that is being altered is small words that have since lost their meaning. “It’s never about place or time his musicals, it’s about human behavior… Remember… it’s our first language, it translates to anywhere just fine. The fact that people are speaking in a more formal way is really the only difference,” said Bowles.
Heavier Than Air also has a show coming in December called Scrooge. The story follows a grumpy old man that is given one last redemption shot at life by three spirits visiting him throughout the night. Twelfth Night will be open December 7th and 8th. The tickets are free for Green River students. Scrooge will be open from December 14th to December 22nd Tickets are $20 at the door. Both shows will be held in the Performing Arts building on campus.
