Elise Hardcastle

Adrian, Mich.- The lights dim, the sound of footsteps can be heard as a person walks on stage and immediately hits a button that starts the wackiest most educational hour and a half that a person could possibly experience. This is what audiences were treated to Feb. 21 to 23 in the lab theatre at Siena Heights University (SHU). The show was “The Iliad, the Odyssey, and All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less,” and the show is exactly that but with foam swords, Barry White, and Barbie dolls. This show is essentially a crash course in not only mythology but also on two of the greatest stories ever told.

This show was directed by Theatre and Speech Communication Professor Mark DiPietro and featured a cast of 13 — 14 if you include security.

DiPietro’s last two shows here at SHU are very well known, “To Kill A Mockingbird,” and “Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

He discovered the show because, as a theatre professor, he is constantly getting and reading new plays and when he read the script, he realized that he could really make it his own. The script is fairly new so no one really knew what to expect when it was announced at the beginning of the year.

With his last two productions  at SHU being so heavy and serious, DiPietro really wanted to do something lighthearted, especially because of its February time slot. He did a similar show here 10 years ago called “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged),” so he was familiar with this format. He also worked on shows like these when he lived and worked out east. DiPietro said “I wanted something fun for the middle of the semester, but that was also a challenge for the students.”

“The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” featured a cast of only 3 people. Initially, “99 Minutes” was only intended to have 5 people playing several different roles. DiPietro chose to split up the parts for several reasons.

First, he wanted more students to experience a “different style of acting. This show is fast paced and manic.” The script was really open ended and allowed DiPietro to have a lot of creative freedom. This type of show is not that uncommon either, but it is sometimes hard to do as educational theatre.

He  also split the parts because keeping them the way they originally were would have been a lot for anyone. In the show, there are 148 different characters, most with very challenging names to say and spell. That would have been hard on only 5 people. With the way DiPietro divided the characters, some people were featured gods, goddess’s or people from well known myths while others sometimes even played 2 characters on stage at the same time.

He also chose to put this show in the Stubnitz Lab Theatre. “I like to direct in the lab, the intimate space, it just appeals to me.” The lab was really the perfect space for this show because it is so interactive. It is a different space for a different kind of show.

It would be impossible to do a show on Greek mythology without the perfect Zeus, who DiPietro in Dean of Students Mark Schersten. DiPietro wanted Schersten for many reasons “Not only he is a great actor, but he is a good influence on all the students, and he is Zeus. Every image of Zeus looks like him [Schersten] and he set an example for everyone.”

Schersten was just as thrilled about this show as DiPietro was. “I didn’t exactly audition, in the sense that Mark invited me to consider playing Zeus. I’ve generally done a show every three years or so since 1997, but I really thought, with my new job as dean, that “Buried Child” three years ago was my last show,” Schersten said.”However, the prospect for a philosopher of playing Zeus was just to tempting to pass up.”

The audience squealed with joy every night when Schersten came onstage for the first time, proving that Schersten really was the perfect Zeus.

Schersten also enjoyed the chaos and fun. “My favorite part was watching all of the student actors frantically running on and off stage, swapping out this prop for that prop, and being amazed at the pace they kept up for (almost) 99 minutes!” This show was fast paced but it was still a great educational experience for all.

Schersten continued, “The audiences all three nights were very responsive and appreciative. It was interesting to see who got what jokes. “Nedermeyer… DEAD!” was lost on most of the younger crowd who apparently never saw John Belushi in Animal House, but maybe that’s a good thing!”

DiPietro he was thrilled with how the show had progressed from practice to the stage. “It’s a byproduct to please the audience. From the beginning [of the rehearsal process] the actors really grew and I could see a change in people.”

The next show on Theatre Siena’s calendar is “Little Women.” This show is a musical and is directed by Professor Kerry Graves and takes place April 12-14, 2013, at  8p.m. with a Sunday matinee. Tickets are $12 adults, $8 students.