By: Chelsea Davis

The PAC vs. The Black Box Theatre

 

STATESBORO, Ga. – When it comes to entertainment the fine arts does not always come to mind, but for those looking to enjoy a theatre play, every year, Georgia Southern’s Center for Arts and Theatre, brings a huge production to the Statesboro area.

 

This year, Twelfth Night, was the production chosen by the Center for Arts and Theatre. Although every year each theatre play attracts many people, this year it was decided to move the production to the Performing Arts Center , what Georgia Southern students know as the PAC.

 

While past theatre productions took place at the Black Box Theatre, this year’s production called for a larger theatre. “I'm not really sure why the PAC was chosen. I do know that every few years we put on a performance at the PAC. It's most likely to appeal to a wider audience because not everyone knows where the Black Box is,” Harvey said.

 

Sam Harvey, stage manager for the theatre production, Twelfth Night, explained how there was no issue with the space of the Black Box.  “The PAC has more rooms and a lot more space than the Black Box, so it's really easy to get lost in but it’s really good for a big show though. On the other hand, the Black Box is great for small shows,” Harvey said.

 

Twelfth Night Production

 

The Twelfth Night theatre production was a play surrounded around the main character Viola who is shipwrecked, along with her twin brother Sebastian, on the shores of Illyria. The two are separated, both thinking the other is drowned. Since she can’t go around town by herself safely, she decides to dress as a man and serve the ruler of the country, Count Orsino. Unfortunately, she falls in love with Count Orsino who sent her to woo his love Olivia. Olivia falls in love with Viola, thinking she’s truly a man named Cesario.

 

“Have you ever seen She's the Man featuring the actress Amanda Bynes? That’s basically the entire plot of Twelfth Night,” Ferguson-Salim said.

 

The main characters Viola and Cesario, were played by Michelle Daly. She stated how playing these two roles were a little more involved due to the fact she had to act out two different characters. Although these two characters were somewhat difficult to pull off she was already familiar with Shakespearean language and had already performed this show back in high school as the character Olivia. Therefore, she already knew what to expect.

 

“I love Shakespeare, and have had a lot of experience with it. This is actually the second time I have performed this show, the first being two years ago when I played the role of Olivia. So I had a pretty good grasp of the language and the plot of this show coming in,” Daly said.

Annaliyah Ferguson-Salim, one of the actresses who played the character Maria, states how scripts were handed out around Winter Break and once they came back there were weekly rehearsals for exactly two months.

 

“The whole Twelfth Night team worked really hard to make this show a success. Some of the actors, like myself, were very new to Shakespeare so being able to successfully understand and master his words was awesome,” Ferguson-Salim said.

 

Daly and Ferguson-Salim both stated how this was not the first play they have performed, with the Center for Arts and Theatre, and that this will not be their last. After Twelfth Night being such a success they both plan to perform in more productions before they graduate.