The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s student actors will perform a piece of their own creation April 4 through 7.
Students will perform “Berlin Walls” four times in the Studio Theater in Blaisdell Hall: 7:30 p.m. April 4 through 6 and 2 p.m. April 7. Tickets -- $6 for the public, $4 for faculty and staff, and $2 for students – are available at the box office and online at www.upb.pitt.edu/calendar/arts/berlin-walls.
Dr. Kevin Ewert, professor of theater, coordinated the creation of the play by students.
Using as its anchor the Berlin Wall, which divided East Berlin from West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, the production interweaves stories of division and resilience to explore the questions: What drives us apart? How do we fill the gaps caused by separation?
“One of our first images was of a pair of lovers separated by the wall, constantly communicating by letter, constantly kept apart,” Ewert said. "How to bridge that gap? How to measure that loss of time and togetherness? That led us to thinking about Orpheus and Eurydice, and the ghost stations of the Berlin subway where certain western trains could no longer stop when they descended under the eastern half of the city.”
Ewert said students created all of the scenes through improvisations based on their research and on the images they wanted to explore.
“We read about real-life escape attempts – one of which we stage, complete with sports car and future mother-in-law in the trunk,” Ewert explained. “We invented a game show about gaslighting a nation. We explored heartbreak and loss but also created some of the funniest sequences I’ve ever seen on a Pitt-Bradford stage. In the end, we're trying to figure out if something that has been broken can be put back together, even if some pieces are missing.”
The students who created and are performing in the piece are David Beltrez, a history-political science major from Hillside, N.J.; Zoe Hager, an undeclared student from Houston; Adriana Herrera, an interdisciplinary arts major from Leasburg, N.C.; Sean Luce, a writing major from Bradford; Abby McCullough, an interdisciplinary arts major from Aliquippa; Miranda Mong, an English major from Russell; Paige Nootbaar, an interdisciplinary arts major from Pittsburgh; Nate Nuzzo, a biology major from Cranberry Township; Eliver Russo, an interdisciplinary arts major from Easton; and Ethan Strother, a computer information systems and technology major from Hughesville.