The Theatre Department fall production debuted on November 3rd-6th at the Jeanne Spurlock Theater. Kodachrome is a play written by Adam Szymkowicz about grief, love, and moving on.
The play follows a woman, The Photographer, who is trying to move on from her hometown and accept that not everything is in her control. The cast portrayal of their characters was powerful, while the crew did a perfect job making sure everything went right behind the stage, as well as with the set design.
The star of the show, photographer Harlan Mulvey, senior, says that a lot of work has been going into the technical aspect of Kodachrome. “I have a crap ton of lines, so I’ve been working hard to remember them, since I’m the narrator,” said Mulvey.
Mulvey is very passionate about Kodachrome and remains confident in her own abilities to correctly portray her character as was seen during her performances last weekend. The Photographer interacts with the audience by asking for pictures of the audience, asking them to do silly poses.
Actress, Taylor Ferenc, junior and actor Joseph Hilbert, junior worked well together with being a silly couple who were madly in love with each other. Vincent Hughes did an excellent job at portraying the gravedigger. “The Gravedigger is longtime friends with the main character, the photographer, and has a crush on the main character, which I think is very sweet,” said Hughes explaining his character. The character is shy, reserved, and paranoid.
Jonathan Byrum, sophomore, the Hardware owner, is trying to get through life since his wife died and tries not to act on the impulses he has. “If I were to describe Kodachrome in a few words it would be philosophical, because it dives deep into human nature and how people react to things,” said Byrum describing Kodachrome.
A more humorous character is the History Professor played by Brendan McPheron, junior. The History Professor is an awkward character which causes humorous scenes. He is going through a divorce from his wife. “This is probably one of the hardest parts I’ve gotten to play so far at McNick because I don’t relate to the character, but I like challenges,” said McPheron explaining his character.
Unlike the other characters, the History Professor stays the same throughout the play. McPheron believes that the play is supposed to be hopeful and not sad because, even though it is deep, the story has a message within it. “It’s definitely a hopeful play. Each character has a certain wish or something they want to accomplish, some of them make it there some don’t,” said McPheron
One of the main reasons why the play was a success was because of Leslie Baum, the director of Kodachrome. A director’s job is to tell everyone what to do, organize the play, and make design decisions.
Like McPheron she thinks that the play is supposed to bring hope to the viewers. Baum said, “Kodachrome is about living life while you still have it.”
The McNicholas Milestone 