When the members of Theater Underground, a group of undergraduate UCLA students, had a closing night cast party for “House Full of Letters” five months ago, they thought that would be it.
“Everyone hugged and congratulated each other, thinking this was it. Then we found out, it’s not,” said Amanda Glaze, a fourth-year theater student and director of the show.
What started out as a class assignment for Kit Steinkellner ““ a graduate film student specializing in playwriting who penned the play as an undergraduate theater student at UCLA ““ far exceeded its humble beginnings at the closet-like Powerhouse Theatre in Santa Monica. The cast entered the play in the American College Theater Festival before the initial run, but no one anticipated that they would actually win.
However, Steinkellner won the National Student Playwriting Award in the American College Theater Festival, an award that earned the play a spot as one of four full-length productions to be showcased on Saturday at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The play will also be published as part of the Samuel French award, included in her prize.
Glaze also received the 2008 National Selection Team Fellowship for her direction.
“It was an incredibly pleasant and happy surprise,” Glaze said, who directed the show as her senior project.
Set hundreds of years in the future off the Gulf of Mexico, “House Full of Letters” takes place in the chaos after years of wars, pandemics and decimation of natural resources. The world is ruled by a fascist government, bringing order in exchange for civil liberties. Until one man, Bastian, played by third-year theater student Sean Lewellyn, disrupts the “life is a constant battle” motto that has become the status quo.
The play asks a lot of intrepid questions, such as whether it’s better to be safe or free, questions that the audience may not want to think about or hear. But these risks made it stand out in the competition.
With little knowledge of their competitors, the company assumed the worst: Sky-high budgets, huge casts and famed advisers formed their idea of the competition. And so after the regional round of judging, another cast party ensued, certain that would be the last.
But now the company is at the Kennedy Center and will be performing “House Full of Letters” at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, which includes more than 600 universities nationwide. What became known among them as “the little production that could” had reached the top.
“We thought of ourselves as the Mighty Ducks, and everyone else was Iceland,” Glaze said.
Of course, within this “little production” exist many crucial details that led “House Full of Letters” to its big success, starting with the script.
To Steinkellner, dystopian worlds ““ like those in “1984,” “Brave New World” and “A Clockwork Orange” ““ are an ideal way of instigating thought in audience, a sort of show-not-tell approach to creating awareness.
“It’s easier for people to hear. People want to be talked to, not yelled at,” she said. “It’s an amazing way of exploring issues without being too polemic.”
But conjuring an entirely new world is no easy feat. In order to make it believable, close attention to detail is essential. For instance, the tendency of language to evolve within a society is a seeming trifle whose importance was not lost on Steinkellner. The altered language she wrote for the characters provides the sort of nuance that brings the script to life.
Phrases such as, “It’s being so cold here,” illustrate the changes in language brought about by the isolation of the denizens of “House Full of Letters.”
“It’s not 21st century vernacular,” Steinkellner said. “If it’s the future, why talk like it’s 2008?”
Costumes, music and sets are also integral in creating the feeling of otherworldliness that defines the production. In order to engender this ambience, Glaze, along with costume and set designers, had to determine what materials would be left after absolute disaster. The answer came in the form of various scraps of clothing, mismatched shoes and lots of duct tape.
“It’s completely rustic,” Glaze said. “We had to fuse lack of technology and rustic feel with things we have now.”
Though the company will be enjoying its final cast party in Washington, DC this week, the impression the experience left on the students will last even longer.
“The Kennedy Center wanted this to be an educational experience,” Glaze said, “and it definitely was.”