On March 7, Rowan Lab Theatre put on its first show of the Spring season with “Action,” performed at the Black Box Studio in Bunce Hall.

“Action” was written by Sam Shepard and first premiered in 1974. The plot of the play follows four characters- Shooter, Jeep, Lupe, and Liza- as they attempt to host a holiday dinner for themselves in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic world on the verge of falling to pieces.

Throughout the play’s forty-five-minute runtime, the four characters each face their own inner crises, expressing frustration and anger alongside other complex combinations of emotions, all while simultaneously addressing how trying to live a simple life has only gotten more difficult.

“Every night was a little different, but still it was the exact same show, there was still that camp feeling about it that Dawn McCall, our director, really wanted from it,” said Quinn Holloway, a freshman theatre major who was an understudy for the roles of Jeep and Lupe. “It was just a great show, especially for a cast of all freshmen to really get introduced to our student productions.”

The characters in Rowan Lab Theatre’s production of the show were played by Ilana Leshowitz, Omari Williams, Kennedy Smith, and Alec Salameda, all freshmen who are studying the performing arts at Rowan.

“My favorite parts of the show were absolutely whenever we were able to interact with the audience,” Salameda said. “There are a couple of scenes where the characters are aware of someone watching them and deliberately make eye contact with the people in the front rows. We have multiple lines of dialogue delivered straight to the audience that would make people a part of the show. I had a moment where I was on all fours, gnawing on my arm and staring down a complete stranger. The feeling that creates is something electric.”

The show was directed by senior theatre and world religion dual-major Dawn McCall, who most recently appeared in a Rowan MainStage production of “The Tempest” as Prospero. McCall took a more lively approach. Where previous adaptations of “Action” are designed to be more colorless and dull, the set design of Rowan Lab Theatre’s adaptation was more vibrant and abstract, giving each of the characters more of a chance to stand out apart from the very intense, yet at times comedic, acting performances that the script required from them.

“There’s not a whole lot of direction with the design of the show, and I really think Dawn took it and made it their own completely,” said Smith. “The costumes were incredible, and the makeup was phenomenal. I think the way that the makeup was styled was so integral to how it was presented because a lot of our ideas or a lot of Dawn’s ideas came from gender expression and confinement, and I think doing it in drag really brought home that idea. I don’t think that if it was directed or designed by anybody else, it would have had the same impact.”

Rowan Lab Theatre’s adaptation of “Action” sold out the Black Box Studio for its three-day run. In each performance, the play also featured a small student band comprised of Sadi Gomez, one of the assistant stage managers who also acted as the sound designer, composer, and guitarist for the band, Danih Lael-Alexandre, who played piano while also doubling as the show’s assistant director, and Jackson Brown, a senior theatre major who played the drums for the band.

“What Action means to me is a glimpse into the human animal and how so many negative traits are almost romanticized in a way,” Williams said. “As I have portrayed Jeep, I found it so interesting how so many people were actually intrigued with this caricature of a toxic human male. It is something I will ponder on for quite a while, and hopefully, one day, I’ll be able to answer it. I aspire to inspire myself and my constant self-reflection.”

Rowan Lab Theatre’s next production will be “Eurydice,” hitting the Black Box Studio from April 11 until April 13.

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