Introspective on the College’s Fall Drama Production
by Josh Devlin
In front of me was a stage, which marked the beginning of the audition process for the college’s fall production of “Fiveplay,” a play about polyamorous relationships. I did my audition, and patiently waited for the results. To my joy, I was appointed the position of crew chief, the liaison between the shop directors and production crew. However, one day I was approached by the production director, Jessica Wilson, and was asked to sub in for the role of Keegan Dean after one cast member dropped out. I worked both on the stage and on the design and construction of the set. I particularly enjoyed the stagecraft aspect of working on the play. Doing things such as building set pieces like the couch of the Venn house and the blocks that corresponded with each character.
It was truly an honor to be bestowed an acting role in the production. I was anxious, yet extremely excited at the same time. I came into the production late and had a very aggressive time frame to be off book, yet I managed to prevail with minimal struggle. Not to say it was an easy task; it took a lot of time management and tenacity. Memorizing lines wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. I created flash cards and also learned the script inside and out through the arduous process of repetition during rehearsals.
Playing the character of Keegan was a very interesting experience. The role allowed me to enhance my acting abilities through emotional turmoil. The plot line surrounding Keegan involves the passing of his grandfather, who was the only person in his family who didn’t mistreat him. From an acting standpoint, I had to portray the different stages of grief, including scenes that involved intense anger and depression.
The whole process of the play took around eight weeks to finish, with me spending long days on campus, sometimes from 9:30 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. It was amazing to return to acting after almost a year long hiatus. The play was extremely versatile in its casting process, with all of the characters being gender neutral and able to be portrayed by people of any biological sex or sexual orientation. I made many friends during the process of this production, friends I would say I am very close with to this day. I joined the play in the first place because I’ve always been interested in a career in acting. I have received many compliments on my depiction of the character, with some people saying that they wanted to give Keegan a hug. Playing Keegan
definitely helped me improve on my processing of emotions and helped me to be more emotionally vulnerable in a safe and caring environment.
In my last production, I had a blast playing the role of Jaxton, a hippie yoga instructor, in “The Thanksgiving Play.” This time around, Keegan was an emotionally damaged and vulnerable character. This process has definitely strengthened my acting abilities, allowing me to act scenes of more emotional depth.
I highly recommend the college’s theater program to anyone who is interested in the performing arts. We would be glad to have you!
Josh Devlin as Keegan Dean in the Cape Cod Community College production of Fiveplay (Kendra Murphy)
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