The idea to put on a play over one weekend began as a joke among friends. It was just crazy enough to turn out great.
Pre: Vent, written by Lola Peverley and put on by Ghost Light Productions (GLP) last month at the Frederic Wood Theatre, was a labour of love and the culmination of much hard work by a group of UBC students. GLP may have initially started as a lighthearted project, but it became an opportunity for students to put material from their theatre classes into practice in a production completely independent from their professors or established companies.
In an interview with The Ubyssey, Naina Sharma — co-producer and tech stage manager — and Elizabeth Cho — co-producer and production manager — explained how Ghost Light Productions came to life as a result of the support of everyone who got on board with the project. “We’re really lucky that we have a great team who jumped on and backed us,” Cho said. Other than the seven actors who auditioned for their parts, everyone on the project was a friend or classmate of someone already involved.
Though much of the production came together in less than 48 hours, planning for things like financing and insurance had to be done by producers beforehand. Cho said these are the kinds of things that “professors usually take care of and [students] never have to think about.” The producers were able to pull it off, however, learning as they went — from co-ordinating with the Frederic Wood Theatre to going on snack and energy drink runs to keep actors and crew going through a gruelling all-day rehearsal.
Peverley — a sociology major with a minor in creative writing — wrote the script specifically for this project. The premise of Pre: Vent was an idea she had been holding onto for a while, she said. Stella Chen — technical director of GLP and a friend of Peverley’s — reached out to her asking if she had any plays they could use. Peverley said she “had more than a weekend to write [the play], but still a pretty short time frame.”
The one-act play is about a group of recently graduated friends pregaming before going out. Megan (Ashley Wood) is trying to wrangle the friend group into shape to have a carefree, enjoyable evening despite recent breakups, career anxieties and the natural growing apart that the group has experienced since graduation. When one of the friends’ boyfriends, so-called “douchcanoe” Tyler (Rankin Stewart), turns out to not just be dropping off Soph (Rachele Rutherford) but also staying for the outing, tensions threaten to ruin the night.
Full of achingly relatable getting ready scenes, situationship failures, shots, Charli XCX and more shots, the play perfectly captures the energy before a night out with friends. As the program astutely says, the group is at an “awkward time in their lives,” pulled apart by the changing demands of life after university. However, in the end, after some screaming, dancing and even more shots, everyone makes it past the pre-game. Even Tyler.
Action at the club was portrayed by photos projected on a screen while music played and the apartment sat empty. A humorous moment with photos of the friends dancing, flirting and flipping off Tyler was a great way to wordlessly conclude the dialogue-heavy play.
“It’s amazing to see a 30-minute show being [put together] that fast and [the process] still [being] so joyous,” said Ashton Carey, a second-year in UBC's acting program, who played Parker. “You would think everyone would be so stressed, but it was really fun … It is magical that university students can come together to make this happen, and in such a warm and pleasant atmosphere.” For Carey, the weekend was also a “learning moment" — watching the other actors, many of whom were upper-years, helped Carey figure out who he wants to be as an actor.
The design team also only had 24 hours to put the costumes and set together, but they were incredible, considering the time constraints. The spitting image of a cluttered young adult’s apartment, the stage was equipped with miscellaneous decorations, alcoholic beverages, Solo cups, comfy chairs and a wide array of throw pillows. Bringing it all together was an elaborate paper garland hanging from the ceiling, which was made for the show and apparently took a painstaking five hours out of a Saturday.
Costumes were a combination of clothing brought in by actors, pieces scavenged from the costume team’s own closets and a few things that were purchased second-hand specifically for the show. Willow Tiessen — a member of the costume team — said the experience of putting on a show without any professional direction made her “feel a lot more confident” in herself and her abilities. The success of the production proved to everyone that the things they've been learning could actually be put into practice.
