"Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat" Northwestern 2015

Went to see a play Lane was the Assistant Lighting Designer, a show titled "Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat" written by Mark Ravenhil and sponsored by Sit and Spin Productions  .

Ilene and I, love seeing theater, we always take interest in any project Lane is connected with, even if, as in this case, it was a minor contributor, and, selfishly, we look for any opportunity to see him.
Since we had a party Saturday night, we planned on attending the 7:00 performance Friday night. Thursday night, Ilene already sleeping, Lane sends me a text, "No, maybe you should come to the 10:00pm show instead." I quickly reply "OK, great, we'll come to the late show." I count myself lucky that I have a college-aged son that's not embarrassed to have us show-up to events, albeit with certain predetermined guidelines, such as "No dad, you can't bring two cameras, tripods and mics to record the show." Ilene is working out of an extra office here at Urban, so we figure we will leave from here, stop home to change clothes, go out for a dinner, and arrive at Northwestern with time to spare.   At 5;50 I look at my phone and find a message from Lane, telling us to go back to the original plan of 7;00pm. I assume that living on campus for a few months has resulted in Lane forgetting what traffic is like on a Friday night at 6:00 pm.

We rush. Every path, each choice of street, is a mistake, and we spend the trip second-guessing, "if we only had stayed on ______, we would have been there by now."  I'm a nervous wreck, by the time we arrive Ilene is annoyed with me, we park our car somewhere on campus and set off on foot to find the Shanley theater. With minutes till the doors close, and temperatures a balmy minus 5 degrees, we are walking aimlessly across campus stopping random students for directions. Turns out Shanley is not a well known location at Northwestern, everyone was nice but we got a lot of glazed looks. When we finally found the venue, 10 minutes too late, I could see why it was not better known since non-theater majors who pass it, likely assume its a shack where they store lawnmowers.

Lane sends several texts asking things like "Are you in yet," "What side of the stage are your seats?"
I had to inform him that "Mom, is in a building keeping warm, and I'm standing in front of a building with no way in, I'm going to get the car." He writes back, OK, I'll meet you for a quick dinner. So again we return to the Himalayan restaurant,(one of our default locations) and regroup for the 10:00pm show.

The work was actually a collection of short plays, tied around the common theme of US military interventions in the Middle East. The play opens with cast members each declaring "They are good people, so why would they bomb us?" However as the work continues, that question is asked by both the American forces "Bringing democracy" as well as the citizens from the never-named country that has been blown to bits in our noble attempt to bring Western values and Starbucks.

The show was well acted and directed, additional the staging and lighting design were quite effective.
It always amazes me how talented all of these students are, and their ability, to in a very short period of time, to be able to put a show of this quality together. The students do not get class credit, nor do they "get a pass" on any of their assignments because they have chosen to invest time in a show.

 

About the Show

Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat is an epic cycle of short plays tied together by a common theme. Through a darkly comedic lens, the play examines how we view war, conflict and terror when many of us are largely removed from it. Should we try to imagine the unimaginable or should we accept the fact that we will never understand? The ensemble cast plays everything from a judgmental wife on a juice cleanse to the ghost of a decapitated soldier, a mother not afraid to drop an F-bomb to a man not afraid to strap a bomb to his back. Fast-paced and unapologetically funny, this play is a parody of the world we live in today, utterly absurd while being uncomfortably realistic.

Cast

• Annie Brennen
• Ryan Kenney
• Jenna Levin
• Phoebe Moore
• Dominick Mugavero
• Hannah Verdon
• Peter Vilim
• Shaina Wagner

Production Team

• Producer: Jamie Joeyen-Waldorf
  • Assistant Producer: Madeleine Rostami
• Director: Jared Sprowls
• Stage Manager: Alina Carrel
  • Assistant Stage Manager: Sylvana Caruso
• Costume Designer: Megan Riley
  • Assistant Costume Designer: Faye Oyang
• Graphic Designer: Matt Silverman
• Lighting Designer: Tatyana Aravena
  • Assistant Lighting Designer: Lane Lubell
• Set Designer: Axel Mark
• Sound Designer: Alex Benjamin
  • Sound Board Op: Doug Pinckney
• Props Designer: Mihta Garan
• Publicity Directors: Sam Prose
• Fundraising Director: Sam Freedman
  • Fundraising Assistant: Devon Kerr
• Promo Videographer: Sam Spahn
• Photographer (Poster/Graphics): Devon Levy
• Photographer (Rehearsal): Rafi Letzter