LAB! Theatre goes unscripted for new piece

LAB! Theatre’s first original production of the season — which opens tonight — still does not have a script.

The director, senior Jess Adams, and an ensemble, created the characters of “You and Me (Together for a Walk),” before they created the story.

The show, part of LAB!’s smaller scale LAB!oratory series, was inspired by a group of masks. Each performance could be slightly different, as it is based on a practiced rhythm rather than a written script.

Adams pitched the idea for the ensemble-devised masked piece last spring before she spent her summer touring theaters around the country and in France.

During her travels, she gathered knowledge to develop her interest in mask work and physical theater.

In the first week of work on the show, Adams spent a week teaching the cast what she had learned over the summer.

Then she and the cast got to work on making their story.

Some masks were donated, and some were made by Adams.

Adams said the appearance and construction of the masks were more than enough to create the show’s characters.

The actors improvised with the masks and played with the effects of the mask’s postions.

“It starts with this idea of a person, and the more you play around with the mask and the physicality of the mask, the more a character comes out of it,” Assistant House Manager Chris McMahon said.

Standing around a table of masks, the cast members were asked to impulsively choose which mask they wanted to portray.

“There’s something in it that calls out,” said Josh Wolonick, an ensemble member. “It’s a gut feeling. If you feel something in your gut, it tends to be right.”

To start the devising process, the cast brought “offerings” — pieces of art, text or music to explore — to rehearsals.

“We created everything that’s in the piece just from us,” said Nicola Vann, LAB!’s community outreach director and an ensemble member.

The performance consists of vignettes rather than a straight story line.

“It’s more of the moments in lives than a narrative with ‘This is the beginning of the story, this is the end’,” Adams said.

And though an original production will be unfamiliar to the audience, Adams said she thinks people will enjoy the show.

“As long as they’re okay with the quirkiness of the piece, I think they’ll come away satisfied.”

Contact the Arts Editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.