By Rosalia Jimenez
The Grand Rapids Community College Players started their semester with a Jan. 17, 18 and 20 showcase of “Boom” by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb and directed by Jason Flannery.
This dark comedic romance takes an interesting turn when a grad student in marine biology by the name of Jules, played by 25-year-old Cas Eavey from Jenison, locks a journalism student by the name of Jo, played by 22-year-old Alice Woegenka from Grand Rapids, in his underground bunker in preparation for disaster.
Twenty-one year old Indiana native Jenna Milosh, who plays Barbara, follows along the story, adding in bits of information when needed and sound effects when desired.
“Boom” is to be performed on Jan. 18 and 20 at 7:30 p.m. in room 201 at Spectrum Theater with Monday being an added performance due to illness that led to the cancellations of two earlier shows. Tickets are still being sold for each show with general admission being $15 while GRCC students pay $5 for their tickets.
Getting into character is no easy feat for actors. It can be difficult to pull away from your own personality and adapt to your role. These actors, like all, have their own way of getting prepared to perform and to be their role.
“I love sitting quietly in any sort of room. I’ll find a little nook somewhere and drink some tea, drink some water, kind of center myself,” Milosh explained. “I love a pre-show dinner, Jimmy John’s, too.”
Eavey, on the other hand, would “… read through the lines and maybe say a few other things randomly as that character.” They also mentioned how their methods change from character to character.
“Jules is kind of similar to and has the same mannerisms as me, so I feel like it’s very easy for me to get into character onstage,” they said.
Woegenka described her method as taking “a nice, long, maybe three or four-hour nap.” She also described her character, Jo, as being a bit different, personality-wise, from herself. Because of this, Woegenka mentioned needing to think about being more like her character and adopting the way the character carries herself.
With the differences between actor and role, there comes the feeling and almost attachment behind them. Actors tend to find the importance and meaning behind the roles they take on, and these actors are no different.
“Jo has actually really helped me learn on the path to being more defensive of myself and what I want,” Woegenka said.
Milosh had a similar experience with her character, saying, “I wanted to become a teacher, but I stopped because I didn’t feel as though it was right for me. I felt like every day was more and more draining because every single day I would get feedback… it was never just a ‘good job.’”
She went on to say, “Being Barbara is a very bubbly, floaty feeling where nothing can go wrong, even when it does go wrong, and when it does, I’m allowed to be crazy.”
To Milosh, her character embodied the feelings brought on by her previous field of study and the ability to let go of the things holding them back.
For Eavey, their character reflected some of the mannerisms they have.
“Some of his things where he’s weird and quirky and hiding a part of himself at times where you’ll see him kind of switch between sociable and awkward nerd. That was a lot like me,” they explained.
Although it is most common to watch plays being performed with a large group of people, there are many plays, like “Boom,” that have very few. This play in particular only has three cast members.
According to Milosh, “I like small casts because you’re not constantly devolving into (groups) within the cast. It’s very sweet to have two very close friends… and I think it’s very nice to have people that you trust, and people you care for onstage with you.”
Eavey mentioned how difficult it was to perform in small casting groups.
“…The cast (size) is hard earlier, like during auditions. It’s stressful because there’s only three spots, but then once you’re cast, the people and everything, it’s easy,” they said. “It’s so much harder than I thought it was going to be to memorize a play that has only three people in it because there’s so much talking.”
Challenges come with the role. Eavey and Woegenka both shared challenges with certain aspects of the romantic side of the play, whereas Milosh faced the challenges of long monologues.
“We had to do a lot of scenes where we’re really close up and kissing… It started off slow and we were comfortable with each other, but thankfully we had such a good intimacy coordinator,” Eavey said.
Wogenka was quick to agree, saying, “She was amazing and made the whole process so much easier. She made everything so much more comfortable and easy, even though it was still so hard to do.”
Milosh, on the other hand, said, “I talk for so long for so many different points of the show. At one point, I am the only one onstage, and I’m talking. Getting out of my own head was really hard, especially when you’re not having a conversation with somebody onstage.”
Naturally, the actors have their favorite parts in the play. For Woegenka, it was the people she was cast with. For Eavey and Milosh, there were certain scenes within the play. There were scenes where the actors could be extra and eccentric that fell within the category of their favorite parts.
While both the talent and excitement are high within the cast, so are the nerves.
“I’m excited to see everybody’s reactions to it,” Eavey said. “I’m really excited to do it with laughter at the funny scenes… and then in the harder parts, the silence with that many people in the room, the silence is going to feel so intense, too.”
