The 91̳ Many Voices Project will present a staged reading of “The Body Play” by Madison Wetzell on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 2, at 10 a.m. in Schaap Auditorium in the Jim and Martie Bultman Student Center.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
“The Body Play” is being presented in collaboration with the Hope Advocates for Invisible Conditions (HAIC) and the Department of Theatre. The Saturday performance will be hosted by the GLCA Students of Color Leadership Conference.
This script showcases a new take on the mind and body connection. Amy, the protagonist of this play, is played by two actors. One plays her detached, neurotic mind, while the other plays her body. And something is very wrong with Amy’s body. Through the script, her mind submits her body to the scrutiny of experts — doctors, therapists, yoga teachers — and ultimately explores what it might mean to BE a body. “The Body Play” is a comedic and hopeful meditation on chronic illness and the absurdity of being embodied.
Content Advisory: This script contains discussion of an eating disorder.
“The Body Play” is co-directed by junior Anya Kapitula of Grand Rapids and senior Eden Comer of Farmington Hills, with Rhett Luedtke, associate professor of theatre, as faculty advisor, and Eric Van Tassell, assistant professor of lighting and sound design, as lighting director. Senior Jillian Hickok of Westerville, Ohio, will act as the cultural consultant of HAIC.
The cast includes sophomore Evelyn Lapadat of Elkhart, Indiana; junior Kate Lawrence of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; and seniors Naomi Gunneson of Rockford, Ruby Hlathein of Madison, Wisconsin, Sofia Petix of Northville and Jillian Hickok of Westerville, Ohio.
The Many Voices Project (MVP) is a collaboration between the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, the Multicultural Student Organizations, and the 91̳ Department of Theatre, and showcases stories representing a wide range of characters from diverse backgrounds.
To inquire about accessibility or if you need accommodations to fully participate in the event, please email accommodations@hope.edu. Updates related to events are posted when available at hope.edu/calendar in the individual listings.
The Jim and Martie Bultman Student Center is located at 115 E. 12th St., at the center of the Hope campus between College and Columbia avenues along the former 12th Street. Schaap Auditorium is on the lower level near the building’s southwest corner.