Stage 2’s production of Speech and Debate written by Stephen Karem opened at the University of Minnesota, Duluth’s Dudley Experimental Theatre last night. Overall, the show was big success with only a few minor “opening night jitters” to distract from the powerful performance. Performers Emily Bengston, Thomas Matthes, and Dylan Rugh dug deep into the tortured souls of three teenagers dealing with extraordinary situations and brought their controversial stories to life. With each kid trying to protect their own reputation while at the same time trying to find others to lean on, the characters Diwata, Solomon, and Howie brought laughter, tension, and emotion to every audience member.
Koki Sabates made some memorable choices in her first ever role as a director; her strong personal conviction that the projection screen was an integral aspect of the show led to what was an intriguing prop. When Howie was messaging online, the audience messaged along with him. The audience could see each message and laughed along with Howie’s twisted humor. The projection of the conversation gave the audience a personal look into the single event that started the avalanche of secrets. As fun as reading the chat room conversation was, however, watching Howie as he sat in his bean-bag chair cracking smiles was the real highlight of the scene. His laughter at his own dumb jokes really sold his character immediately without him speaking a word. The audience could appreciate as well the non-stereotypical portrayal of a gay young man put forth from actor Dylan Rugh. In fact, the lack of stereotyping of the two boys throughout the play was refreshing and helped the audience better understand the issues and expectations that minority teenagers deal with at school and with adults.
Though stereotypical in her own right, the character of Diwata was by far the best comic relief of the performance. While she had her own tales of woe, her upbeat, yet sarcastic attitude and over-the-top speech practices made her what some would consider the typical, high school dramatist. Actress Emily Bengston who portrayed Diwata successfully captured the spirit of the confident-on-the-outside drama geek. Though the audience could sense that Diwata was fragile inside, actress Emily Bengton was able to insert her own brand of bubbly, goofy humor to make the audience laugh and appreciate her character as a leader to the misfit band of friends. Finally, the character of Solomon was definitely a difficult personality to crack at first. His portrayal for the audience went from an over-excited, attention seeking journalist to a deeply conflicted, overly pressured kid in need of supporting friendships in the span of about one scene. From the beginning the audience thought of Solomon as a semi-conservative, overly mature young man with high, but misplaced, ambitions. Actor Thomas Matthes captured that character well, and convincingly acted the part of a “perfect child” in the audience’s eyes. Only in the intense fight and breakdown in “Scene 8: Declamation”, did the audience fully understand his conflicted and confused story. Matthes’ intense emotional breakdown grabbed the audience’s attention and made a great deal of the plot fall into place.
Throughout the play there were only some minor glitches. The audience could sometimes catch a prop falling out of place, see an actor bumping into a piece of the set, or hear a line be repeated, but none of these minor mistakes overshadowed the powerful performance of the actors. Those mistakes will hopefully be weeded out after that opening night, leaving the next performances up to even greater successes. The hip-hop soundtrack that filled out transitions, the wonderful use of technology with the projector screen, and the tension-filled and emotional performance by Emily, Thomas, and Dylan will all leave the next audience captivated. The actors’ convincing portrayals will stay with the audience for a long time, making them feel again and again for the three teenagers overcome by their own complicated circumstances.
Presenting their last show on September 19, 2015, Stephen Karen’s Speech and Debate was performed at University of Minnesota Duluth in Stage 2 Dudley Experimental Theatre. The cast, writer, production and director were doing their best from start to finish on their final show. The performers; Emily Bergsten, Thomas Matthes and Dylan Rugh played greatly as their characters in Speech and Debate. With Diwata, Solomon and Howie being in different situations and seeking different wants, they all came together that benefited each other despite of their differences. What they all have in common is that they want to be publicly noticed. Solomon wants his writing to appear on a newspaper, Diwata wanting to play as a main character in a play and starting the Speech and Debate club at a college and Howie wishing to be publicly accepted for who he is. From starting it comical to ending it depressingly sad, Speech and Debate is a show that people should come and watch.
The beginning of the play started out intriguing and comical with Dylan Rugh, as Howe, messaging another person online in a chat room and having the audience being able to see what they are talking about. What made it comical was how Howe responded to the person online. It continued while introducing Thomas Matthes, as Solomon, arguing and trying to persuade his teacher about choosing a topic to write about that is not controversial. Finally Sue Bengtson, as Diwata, was introduced while drinking and ranting about her not being in a main role in a play by singing about it on a live podcast. Solomon meets with Howie when he found his number on Diwata’s blog post claiming that he has info about the mayor. Seeing that post, Solomon dials the number to get more information about the mayor scandal the stranger may have. Diwata meets Solomon as he is in the same room with her for the Speech and Debate club. Being the only one there, Solomon was able to persuade Diwata on being able to present his research on the mayor for exchange on having him part of the Speech and Debate club. While working on a restaurant, Diwata meets Howie and starts talking about information he has on the mayor. Solomon, Howie and Diwata all meet together while in the Speech and Debate club but they had a rough start. They all started to connect with each other when they all revealed each other’s secrets after they found out about Solomon’s secret that Diwata was able to reveal. After the problem was solved, they started to work together in order to achieve their needs. It was revealed on what they wanted as a reporter came in to investigate their club. At the end, they got all they wanted and what was surprising is when Diwata ended on her podcast saying that she is able to shut down a play if they were to performs it without her consent. What made the ending sad was when Solomon was in a chat room online but nobody else responded to him as he typed out his information.
The characters in the play seemed to go with the flow as if they were just talking to each other normally. The music in the background during the transition helped as the scenes were transitioned in order to continue the mood of the play. The jokes and actions of the characters were funny especially during Scene 10: Oral Interpretation of Prose. Only minor mistake were some rereading a line over but it was hard to notice due to the laughter from the audience from the comical parts from the show. Sadly with the 19th of September being their last day to perform Speech and Debate, I would highly recommended for people to watch.
The dull title “Speech and Debate” entirely underplays the actual laugh out loud comedy theatre act recreated by the UMD student run organization Stage 2. All the actors and actresses did a fantastic job of making the audience grow a bond to the characters and make everyone laugh, with the exception of a few slip ups. Although this play was very humorous, the topic was far from that. The play addresses very serious current issues. Combining these dark themes with comedy made for an outstanding play.
The play Speech and Debate is a dark comedy that addresses difficult American society issues such as coming out as gay, statutory rape, and teen pregnancy. The play itself was pretty confusing at first, but all the scenes started to gradually tie together in building up the plot. Normally talking about the issues addressed in the play will divert most of a crowd, but director Koki Sabates’s play uses humor brilliantly to release the tension from the situation. Solomon throwing up when his problem was brought up to the group portrayed the pain it caused for him. With the overwhelming statistics of depression and suicide today seeing the group of students that were internally dealing with their problems band together was a heat-warming thing to see.
All of the actors and actresses portrayed the personalities of their characters very clearly creating a feeling of connection between the audience and the characters. Cassie Liberkowski played two separate smaller roles as a teacher and a reporter. With the exception of stumbling over her lines a few times she did a solid job acting. Thomas Matthes and Dylan Rugh playing Solomon and Howie clearly distinguished the gay characters personalities they were portraying. Howie, was a very laid back and introverted character that slowly became friends with the other two students even though he pretended to hate them. Dylan Rugh was constantly overreacting, intense, and ignorant, which I believe was how the character Solomon was to be depicted. Lastly, the comedy queen was Diwata who was played by Emily Sue Bengston. Her passionate and upbeat personality was only thwarted during her drunken rants about not getting the lead role in the school play. For this play there was a clear separation of the audience and the cast and the audience was never physically involved. For this particular play this seemed like a good decision since the cast could create all the comedy through their lines and overt emotions. The props involved in the play were necessary, however, they seemed to distract the audience too much especially when they were accidentally bumped into or knocked over.
Stage 2, with the directing of Koki Sabates, put on a memorable performance for such a small cost and small audience. The play was definitely worth the cheap entry fee and all the audience members left with a multitude of laughs. This was the opening night so the few line mishaps and prop collisions were not too much of a surprise and were only short minor distractions. The cast had the audience laughing from start to finish and portrayed dauntingly difficult characters that were dealing with terrible life situations.
It was clear that Speech and Debate, a relatively dull sounding yet self-explanatory title, was written and performed for the audience to relate to it. The director, Koki Sabates, along with the writer, Stephen Karem, were able to accomplish that through the plot-line, the characters, the dialect, the setup of the stage, and the soundtrack.
It is a known fact that conservative communities can be issues for gender-struggling, justice-seeking, sexually affected teens everywhere, and it's safe to say that Speech and Debate was able to portray these issues almost completely accurately. From the closeted, ashamed Solomon to the openly-gay, proud Howie, you were able to get a feel of the different types of teenagers struggling with gender recognition from their families and friends, which was something that could be easily relatable for a lot of students in the same position.
Despite the rather amateur acting skills of the teacher/news reporter, a few line slips here and there, and some props that were falling apart, the performance went pretty smoothly. That, of course, was made up for by the vivacious, bubbly breath of fresh air Diwata, played by Emily Bengton. From her melodramatic radio blog to her nude body stocking, Diwata’s comic relief, though deeply dark and sarcastic, was easily the highlight of the play.
Another factor that contributed to the play's success was the script. It was a modern play written using modern lingo. The adults spoke as adults and the kids spoke as kids- everyone sounded like they should so there was no age confusion. While there were a lot of dark, real issues explored, there was also a lot of humor and lighthearted jokes that ended up causing the message to sink in, creating an even balance of drama and comedy.
A pretty large part of the play was, of course, the setup. Located in the small, box-shaped black room known as the Dudley Theater, Speech and Debate was set up like a classroom for most of the performance, despite a slight change of furniture for the bedroom blogging scenes and the restaurant scene. The scenery and props were simple and mostly hand-made, and it was clear it was a low-budget play. This only helped give off a much more casual, comfortable vibe, and in a way it made you feel closer to the cast members. The fact that a video of a giant hand was featured writing the scene title on pieces of lined paper between scene changes also gave that relaxed, relatable feel. You were that student writing on that piece of paper.
Lastly, the soundtrack. They couldn’t have picked a more appropriate music selection for the theme of the play. Modern, contemporary pop with a bit of rap mixed in was what the audience heard in-between scenes. Many of the audience members (which consisted of mostly college students) were either clapping lightly to the beat or singing along to the lyrics. It was clear that the music director picked a selection of music appropriate to the current-times, being as that was the background of the play. This, of course, had a pretty great impact on the structure of the performance and how applicable it was to the struggles of everyday teenage life.
Speech and Debate written by Stephen Karam who Is also written Sons of the prophet was produced at Dudley Experimental theatre in Marshall performing arts center on September 17-19 2015. The play was presented by stage 2 and directed by Koki Sabates who as first time director over pass her expectation by putting together a laughter combined with unforgettable entertainment play.
Speech and Debate captures all that is wrong with a society where the champion for one thing and at the same time resist it and censor it. In this case the director focuses freedom of speech. The directors vision was to make audience feel sympathy for the three main characters Diwata, Solomon, and Howie. Sebates primary objective was to for the audience to feel sympathy with the opinion that freedom of speech must permit peculiarity such as being gay and even to a point, advocate or ratify it.
At the beginning of the play every thing was at pieces and seemed not connected at all, there was Howie played by Dylan Rugh the new guy in town who is eager to find a mentor in his gay alliance group. Diwata the underrated actor/singer played by Emily Sue Bengtson who for some reason have a lot to say about the teachers. There is also Solomon a very hard to get to character played by Thomas Mattes, he has this old man inside him meaning he act more of a grown man rather than a teenager he is. At first he seems to be a person who is really confident for who he is but later come out as a conflicted person. The play focuses how this three come together, all of them having some sexual secret and they end up getting support from each other, each one of them have agenda and they try to work together to achieve each individual goals.
During the show I very much enjoyed the performers of Thomas Matthes who played the character of Solomon. He has some sort of self identity crisis and he basically running around trying to help others but all he is trying to is get attention. He chases after the truth as he puts it and want to expose the mayor and one of the teachers who are die hard conservative and yet they are secretly attracted or have relationship to person of same gender.
In addition to admirable work of the actors did, I was impressed in the technical aspect of the show although there one or two glitches with the light as one of the light just burnt-out and there were smoke coming out that particular light. Except that the set was fashionable and it really gets the audience attention and was easier for the audience to release what that particular set was it for. The costumes of were well selected and did quite matched the scene of that time. what stand out mostly was the small screen where words are projected in and it was an important tool in engaging the audience and it help them keep track of the scenes. An example is at the first scene the poetry reading where Howie is at his computer and is chatting online and the chats are projected at the small screen. I enjoyed this production, I would definitely recommend someone to watch It is worth seeing it.
From hearing the title, Speech and Debate sounds like a dry, dull story we’ve all heard about kids in high school teaming up in an “unexpected” way. However, this play takes everything we already knew and throws in more scandal, secrets, and betrayal. Stage 2’s production of this play was a big success last weekend. The actors fit their roles well and brought the story to life, even with minimal set to work with.
Diwata, played by Emily Sue Bengston, was truly the star of the production. Her bright personality and craving to be a star easily made her stand out as the leader of the group. Her song filled monologue for her podcast was attention grabbing and really made the audience feel like she was their friend. Her openness helped the audience feel closer to Howie and Solomon as well, as she tended to bring out their personalities as well.
Solomon, played by Thomas Matthes, was hard to like at first with his pushiness and awkward personality. His obsession with exposing people’s secrets is starkly contrasted with how closed off and cold he appears for most of the play. We think we have his character type nailed down, until later on we see how vulnerable and lonely he really is.
Howie, played by Dylan Rugh, was the character that felt the most like just a regular guy. In the beginning of the play, he didn’t have Diwata and Solomon’s need to draw attention to the scandals happening around them. He just wanted to get through the rest of high school and move on with his life. But the more time he spent with them, the more he began to share the desire to take a stand and be noticed.
The play was truly unlike any other I’ve ever been to. It was clearly written and produced to appeal to a younger generation. The use of digital communication and discussion of controversy over abortion and homosexuality make this play difficult to transcend out of our era. These are hallmarks of the American experience in the 2000’s. Though this makes the play more relatable now, it could be an issue in future productions.
However, I did think this play was pretty well done overall. It had unexpectedly good acting, set design, and directing for an entirely student run production. I would recommend this play to people in high school and college as an interesting and exciting look into teenage issues.
The laugh out loud play of Stephen Karem’s Speech & Debate was performed by Stage 2 from September 17th to the 19th. The play took place in the Dudley Experimental Theater at the University of Minnesota Duluth. The plot was brought up to be about three teenagers who come together to solve and share their story. These teenagers Howie, played by Dylan Rugh, Solomon, played by Thomas Matthes, and Diwata, who was played by Emily Sue Bengson, all came from different backgrounds. Diwata had tried out for multiple plays in hope to get a leading role. Howie, the new kid in town, was trying to find someone to be a representative for the Gay Straight Alliance. Solomon, a school journalist for the school newspaper, keeps being told that the topics he wants to talk about are too controversial. The play brings three major issues to our attention and reveal how the teens are dealing with it. The performance talks about issues that are commonly known in today’s society. Those issues are teen pregnancy, statutory rape, and coming out as gay. The play was dark, humorous, and dramatic all at the same time. Director Koki Sabates made an interesting choice when she chose this particular play. The actors that were cast brought a roller coaster of emotions to the audience. The boring and unappealing title does not live up to the intriguing plot. The beginning of the play was intense and confusing at first, but as the performance went on the audience got more of an understanding of just what the actors where trying to tell us. The teens reacted to each situation in their own unique way. For example, when the group found out about Solomon’s rape he immediately threw up and was in denial about the whole situation. The actor’s feelings were so evident that the audience felt like they could feel the emotions of the actors. This was an overwhelming thing to witness. The opening performance did however had a few misshapes. Throughout the play characters were stumbling over their words and hesitating. All of that is to be expected with the pressure that is opening night. Cassie Liberkoski, who played the minor roles of a teacher and reporter, did a decent job of being the snobby reporter that used the interview for her own self confidence when promoting her novel. Her character as a teacher however was not as well played. When telling Solomon about what he could and could not write in the school paper, she kept pacing back and forth as if she didn’t know what to do with herself. She repeated herself multiple times and stumbled on words. Dylan did a phenomenal job when portraying Howie who was dedicated to start a Gay Straight Alliance to have people except him in the conservative town of Salem. Diwata was one who thought she deserved her big break and wanted to start a speech and debate team to get recognized. Later in the play we find out the she had sex at a party when she was drunk. This caused her to have a pregnancy scare. Emily, had the audience on the edge of their seats. The fear of being a teenage mom is shown in the way Diwata approaches the situation at hand. Solomon was so intrigued when he found out that one of his teachers is supposedly having inappropriate relationships with minors. Other than messing up on his lines a couple of times, Thomas took his character to a whole new level when his so called “new found friends” bringing up the fact that during last year’s play Diwata saw him in the boys bathroom with his teacher; Thomas acted as if this was actually happening in his life. All in all, the three teenagers become unlikely friends after sharing their stories. It was clear that all the actors had some slip ups here and there, but that did not stop them from having a well performed performance. The actors really stepped into their characters shoes and had the audience laughing, and the performance seemed to go pretty smoothly on opening night. The audience was moved by the three teenagers stories and how they came to be friends. I highly enjoyed the performance brought on by these very talented upcoming performers
I had the opportunity to see Speech and Debate on it’s opening night at the Dudley Experimental Theatre at UMD. With the expectation of reading the description of the show beforehand, it seemed like this show may have been rather dark and dramatic. However, after seeing the show, it was clear that a lot of laughs drawn from the audience with the nature of the characters that the actors portrayed. The ability to have dramatic moments was also a highlight of this show, as coming back to drama from comedy is sometimes hard to accomplish. The show opens with a modern visualization of a chatroom between two gay men. It is an uncomfortable beginning, as the audience knows that a teacher at the school will be accused of maltreatment to his own male students in the future. From there, the show begins to introduce three central characters. Solomon is an aspiring journalist who perhaps knows a bit too much for his young high school age. The actor portraying Solomon is able to create a character with an annoyingly bugging personality that you’d expect from a writer. However, that does not protect him from his true nature. The best moments this actor creates is in his ability to switch from being a sarcastic teenager to a vulnerable hurt soul. Diwata is a podcasting teenager who rants about not getting into the school’s theatre department while binge drinking. Her performance of the character made you believe that in fact her character was rightfully denied a leading role in her audition. The actress does a marvelous job in portraying a lot of different qualities for her character: singing beyond reason, holding a team together, and plotting genius revenge. Finally, Howie is the character who is the annoyed one. The actor plays a very laissez-faire attitude, but he will be the first to let the other characters know when he’s ticked off. The energy of the three actors is a great blend to see on stage. You will see them making you laugh, but they will also make you feel silent in anticipation for what is about to happen with their build up of dramatic suspense. A highlight moment from this show is when the three characters all perform a choreographed dance together, which enraptures a small fragment of teen spirit and the sense of ability to overcome past obstacles. The soundtracks selected for this show are also very modern, and I think that makes it more enticing of a show to the current college generation. All of the students involved with the production of this show did a magnificent job, and I left feeling really good about seeing a great show.
Speech and Debate - such a generic title. But wait! The show has much more to offer. Done by UMD’s Stage 2 theater company, you are taken into the lives of three teenagers struggling with issues deep within. This play, originally written by Stephen Karen, left the audience reaching for their tissue box while grabbing a fresh pair of underwear from the “laughter spills.”
The cast did a phenomenal job conveying each character, and did a great job interacting - No character stood out more than another; they were all in unison. Solomon, an aspiring journalist, and also an enclosed gay, gave the audience goosebumps from the heart-wrenching truth of coming out. Thomas Matthes (Solomon) was superb. He displayed anger, frustration perseverance, dedication, and enthusiasm all in one performance. His acting skills were evenly matched to his co-star, Dylan Rugh, who played Howie, a new resident in Salem, Oregon, who was openly gay. Rugh persuades the audience to feel the same as Howie - whether it’s annoyed by Solomon’s questions, or vulnerable to breaking out new dance moves. In all, Rugh gave a fearless “out-of-the-closet” performance. The two are guided by their new acquaintance, Diwata. Neither will admit to being friends with her at first; her love for musical theater and The Crucible were too eccentric for them. But she brought the two together by making them join the Speech and Debate team. Diwata, played by Emily Sue Bengtson, is a lost, pregnant teen who is forced to make an unforgettable decision. Bengtson was outstanding. Her performance grasped at the audience’s eyes, ears, and soul, while also breaking stern moments with comedic relief. Her musical theater skills were even implied in this play - singing on Diwata’s caseo keyboard for her personal podcast. Together, they were the three musketeers - It would be hard to imagine the play without a specific character. In all, the characters were brought to life, and the audience felt deeply for each as they watched them struggle and conquer their biggest fears.
The small space provided for the set, the UMD’s Dudley Blackbox Theater, was perfect for the classroom/bedroom setting; it brought the audience into the rooms with the characters. For only having a week to design the stage, figuring out lighting, and sound, it was a job-well-done.
Preparation time for the actors was short: a mere 4 weeks for studying lines and rehearsing. The actors really felt the parts they were portraying. If they are in another UMD production occurring, their level of intimacy and multitasking another show deserves a round of applause!
Bravo to the student director, Koki Sabates! This being her first show directing, she did a wonderful casting, designing, and putting together an awesome soundtrack; It fit perfectly with the moral of the story, and put a much deeper meaning into the overall message.
The plot involves three lost high school students: it was relatable, it was quirky, it was fun, it left the audience wanting more. From nude body stockings, to a hilarious skit of The Crucible and Abraham Lincoln, to realistically throwing up in a trash bin, Speech and Debate left the audience with two fingers up! (Not their middle fingers, but their thumbs... or maybe both).
Speech and Debate was an interesting show that has teenagers use the Speech and Debate club to prove a point. My thoughts after I left the show were very different than that of when I was going to go see the show. Though I did catch some of the “Opening night jitters.” I thought the play was well done and the actors kept their cool throughout the performance. The actors made an extremely good play that I couldn’t stop thinking about for the past week. The play started off when Howe was sitting in the middle of the stage on a chatroom messaging an older person. You could tell from the first seconds of the conversation you could tell that the person on the other end of the conversation was an adult male and they wanted to meet up. The conversation moved on and it got more intense to the point where the adult was asking for pictures to a certain email. Howe recognized the email and ran off. It continued where Solomon, a teenage student was trying to be able to write a paper on a scandal involving the mayor. His teacher didn’t let him. Diwata was introduced as a teenage girl on a video blog complaining that she didn’t get the main role in the play. She was a little drunk and she was singing about how much she hated Mr. Healie. Later in the play Solomon confronted Howe about the conversation he had with Mr. Healie. Solomon convinced Diwata to use the Speech and Debate club to announce the scandal that his teacher didn’t let him do. The play uses their experiences practicing for the speech and Debate club and describes their own personal challenges. The actors that were chosen for this play were perfect for their roles. They portrayed the personas almost perfectly. The jitters made them make mistakes but they incorporated those mistakes into the play itself and they didn’t let those mistakes stop what the play was supposed to be about. The actors seemed to act as if they were talking to each other normally. They didn’t act as if there was an audience watching them. Though they looked at us I don’t think that they were breaking the fourth wall. They made it pretty clear to the audience what was happening and what they were watching. Overall, a good play.
Last week, stage 2 presented their production of "Speech & Debate," which was performed at University of Minnesota, Duluth at the Dudley Experimental Theatre. The performance space was in a black box and holds a capacity of a hundred. The stage was closer to the audience and helped built a stronger connection. The simple set designed by Paige Schornak and Casey William, was completely handmade or borrowed from locals. The space and props was well used. The show presented three high school students from a conservative town, connected with each other through the problems they were facing. The beginning of the play started with Howie (Dylan Rugh) in the center of the dark stage messaging an older man about meeting up and later recognized who the man was. There was a projector which drawn the audience attention because they were able to see the conversation between Howie and the man. Dylan was able to show different emotions from the start to the end of the conversation. The music director, KT Magnolia Mueller was able to change the mood of the scene drastically with the chat room conversation through the emotions of the music. The next scene was of another student name Solomon played by Thomas Matthes, trying to convince his teacher (Cassie Liberkowski) to let him write a paper. The teacher denied his non-conservative topic. The two actors used the whole stage; they were able to carry the conversation from one space to another. When his teacher told him to talk to his parents about the topic he cannot express in school, he quickly changes his confident tone and lowered his voice. Thomas was able to introduce Solomon as a strong headed person but quickly expected to be broken on the inside. Lastly, the character Diwata played by Emily Sue Bengtson was introduced in her room drunk and ranting on a live broadcast about not getting the lead role in her school play. Her charismatic and bubbly personality stole the show with her speech directed to the theater teacher. Throughout the show Diwata openness cause the audience to feel a connection with her and made them feel empathy for her. Overall the actors were able to portray the characters in a real life situation where many college and high school students can relate to. Director Koki Sabates was able to create a play using humor to show the troubles conflicting with the student’s lives. The director’s vision was seen throughout the play, by the deeper meaning of the student’s freedom of speech. From the different ways of how the students expressed themselves in the play from chat room, speeches, live broadcast, online, papers, music and conversations. Koki was able to direct a memorable and interesting production. In addition, the lightening design of Mags Scanlon and custom design of Brain Saice improved the show. The lightening in each scene went along with its distinct part in the show. When the three students were performing Diwata’s dance the colorful light made the performance more appealing and vibrant. The personality of each character was shown through their clothing. The decisions made for the play complemented each other. Lastly, the play had some small technical problems. A couple of light bulbs burnt-out and made a loud popping noise, which startled the audience and actors for a few seconds but did not affect their acting. There were a few times where the actors repeated their line, but were able to keep the conversation flowing. The actors did run into some props or dropped props. Overall, “Speech and Debate” was a humorous and interesting story about the conflicted lives of high school students. This production put on by students of the University of Minnesota-Duluth was able to cast and design a show worth seeing.
Stage 2's production of Speech and Debate opened Thursday, September 17th, 2015 at the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Dudley Experimental Theatre. Excluding a few minor mistakes, their performance was a success and very enjoyable. Speech and Debate is a dark comedy that follows three high school students from the conservative town of Salem, Oregon. Each of the three characters was dealing with controversial issues that they were afraid to confront because of the judgement they knew would follow.
Howie (Dylan Rugh) was dealing with the fact that he was gay. During the show it was revealed he was using a chatroom to speak with an older man, who may have been someone he already knew quite well. Dylan portrayed Howie's character extremely well. It wasn't hard to see that Howie was a sarcastic, introverted individual, but Dylan did an amazing job at bringing out the humor in it. It was entertaining to see how Howie's personality clashed with Diwata's, a more extroverted character.
Diwata (Emily Sue Bengston) was a spirited girl who wasn't afraid to speak what was on her mind. She had dreams and she planned on following them. Diwata was definitely the biggest comic relief of the three main characters. Emily, the actor portraying Diwata, did an excellent job. Emily gave Diwata's character all of the sassiness that it needed, but also gave life to the more serious parts of the play.
The third character, Solomon (Thomas Matthes), was a journalist with a passion for getting the scoop on one of the teachers at his high school. Solomon is the one that really brings the three main characters together, in that he needs information from the three of them to finish his paper. There was humor in how passionate he was in his writing because he went to great lengths to get his information. Thomas really fit into the character of Solomon well, giving his character the passion that it needed.
The only mistakes during this play were very minor and included a couple times when the actors stood in front of the slides that played on the projectors between scenes, and a few stuttered lines.
Overall, Speech and Debate was an entertaining play. The production went fairly smooth, minus a few mistakes that could be passed off as opening night jitters. Being a student-run show, the quality of the production as a whole was impressive. The lighting and sound was good, and the actors fit their roles very well. The director, Koki Sabates, did a lovely job with this play.
Speech and Debate was a show that was put on by University of Minnesota Duluth Stage 2, which is run by students. The show’s opening was on September 17th. Going into seeing this show I was expecting a low quality play because of the limited budget and because it was put on by students. That was not the case at all. The set was very appropriate for the play and the way they would go into each section was creative. They had a projection that would have someone write what the next section was. The set was mainly a classroom setting and when they needed it to be three different rooms they would have the actors go to three different places on the set and each area was their room. For the budget they had, they did a good job on their sets and costumes.
The show was about three teenagers that all had controversial issues and they come together in this club called “speech and debate”. The three teens were Diwata ( Emily Sue Bengston), Solomon (Thomas Matthes) and Howie (Dylan Rugh). In my opinion the cast was well picked. The actors played their characters well and they seemed to take on the personality of their characters. Diwata is a spunky teen who loves to be in the spotlight and wants to star in her school’s plays. Emily Bengston portrayed her character well in this sense. She was loud and boisterous and it really fit her character. Solomon is a young journalist who will go to any lengths to get the story. He is the one who brought all of them together. Thomas Matthes would ask questions with the tone of what I would think to be a real journalist. Howie is a quieter person. He is openly gay and he goes online to chat with older men. Dylan did a good job at playing his character with sassiness.
Koki Sabates did a wonderful job of directing the play. Overall the play went well except for a few stuttered lines. I enjoyed it very much and it was entertaining. They were able to bring up touchy subjects with humor. Good job to the cast. It was a good play.
On September 17, 2015, I went to the opening night of Stage 2’s Speech and Debate, written by Stephen Karem. Overall, it was an awesome show; the actors were marvelous, the script was serious with a comedic aspect to it, and it flowed very well from one scene to the next. I most appreciated that the whole thing was student run from the actors, to the director, to staffing the Stage 2’s group.
Emily Sue Bengston, a student at the University of Minnesota Duluth, plays the part of Diwata, an aspiring actress. Diwata continually tries out for the school musicals and plays, but her theatre director never casts her in lead roles. So, instead she decides to start a speech and debate team, where she can shine with her own success. The character Soloman, played by Thomas Matthes, is the student reporter for the school newspaper. He is trying to get the school administration to allow him to write news articles about controversial topics. He talks briefly with his teacher (Cassie Liberkowski, who also acts as the reporter) trying to convince her to talk to the principal about his upcoming, controversial article. The last character Howie, played by Dylan Rugh, was portrayed as a gay student who participated in online chats and wanted to start a Gay-Straight Alliance at his new school in Salem. He hadn’t made many friends yet and was freaked out when he recognized one of the emails, on his online chats, as his male teacher’s email; who was also the theatre director. All four of these actors and actresses brought a special piece to the show.
Each actor was obviously talented. Emily was able to act as a crazed actress, but also as a caring and kind friend. She brought such a strong voice to the show. Then, there was Thomas, who really got into his role as a reporter. His character was very passionate about controversial topics and really added a different presence to the play. Dylan was marvelous, he was able to act like such a jerk and have a constant attitude, but still be interested in his new found friends. I personally thought that the show could have gone without Cassie’s character(s). However, she played her characters to the best of her ability and still was able to show her talent.
Like every opening night, there were very minor mistakes. Cassie Liberowski seemed to struggle with many of her lines. Now I know that nerves are very common, but she messed up, the most, on her lines and she had the least. As an audience member it was a little frustrating. I recognized a couple slip-ups from Thomas Matthes, but nothing dramatic. Even though mistakes were made it was still a brilliant show.
One of my favorite parts of the show, was the music selection. It was so appropriate in describing the choice of music most high school students choose to listen to, and it was so good. I want it. I think that music can really make or break a show because it helps really set the mood for the show and I just really enjoyed it.
Overall, this play I would see over and over if I could. It was so good. I thought the price was extremely reasonable for the show we received and that the actors were top notch. I would highly recommend this particular play for college aged students who are looking for a comedy with a little bit of drama. Koki Sabates, the director, did a phenomenal job directing her first show. I hope I am able to see more of her work.
Speech and Debate was performed on September 17th in the Dudley theatre at University of Minnesota Duluth. The play was written by Stephen Karam and directed by UMD student, Koki Sabates. The show went well, especially for being the opening night act. Dylan Rugh, Thomas Matthes, and Emily Bengston did a great job depicting their characters in Speech and Debate. The title definitely doesn’t draw someone in the way it should for the storyline of the play, but if someone were to commit to seeing it, they wouldn’t be disappointed. The characters Diwata, Howie, and Solomon had their own problems to face, but learned to come together despite their differences. Each of them wanted to be noticed in their own way, yet each of them had something to hide. Diwata wished to star in a play, and get a Speech and Debate club started at school. Solomon hoped to have his writing appear in the newspaper, and Howie just wanted to be accepted the way he was. The beginning started off humorous, and it eventually got down to somewhat upsetting times.
It was a nice transition into the beginning of the show seeing the chat Howie had with another person online shown up on a projector screen. It was comical being able to read the responses for oneself, and seeing the whole conversation unfold. Next, Howie (Thomas Matthes) comes in to persuade his teacher to be able to write about a “non-controversial” topic. Lastly, Diwata (Sue Bengston) comes into the scene drinking and ranting about the fact that she didn’t get a scene she wanted in a play. While doing so, she sings of this in a live podcast.
The performance ran rather smoothly. Nothing seemed to be mistaken that was too noticeable. A few times the actors bumped into props here and there, which was noticeable yet not particularly distracting. Diwata probably had the most difficult task with her personality and voice she acted. Her effort of acting as her character was well recognized and appreciated. Her humor and sarcasm was a huge contribution to the play amidst the three’s problems.
The script was modernized to the appropriate lingo we have nowadays, which makes it more relatable and funny allowing the actors to be straight up about certain things. Each person acted appropriately for the character they played. The adults were known as adults and the young adults as young adults. Also, besides the side of dark secrets that were thrown out there, there was a lot of humor to balance each end out, which worked really well.
In between scenes ran pretty smoothly. The best part about in between scenes was having that background music in there, which fit perfect with some pop and rap each time they had a scene change. The props and set-up you could tell were at a minimum, but they had what they needed to make it run nicely. Also, the lights ran very well, there wasn’t a time that you could notice any mistakes with the light crew.
Overall, this was a great production that I would recommend to anyone looking for an interesting plot twist relating to some common struggles and controversies people experience in life.
The Stage 2 production of “Speech and Debate’ was remarkably well done. This show taking place in Trojan high school in 2007 tackles one of the major social issues of its time as well as showing the complex decisions teens are dealing with. the play does an overall good job of conveying it message The actors excelled at there roles as high school students each with varying interests who must all work together to achieve their desired goals. Special notation should be given to actor Cassie Liberkowski who played not only the role of the teacher but also took on the role of the reporter. The only technical flaw in this play was when the character Diwata (played by Emily Bemgtson) went to push play on the keyboard and the music didn’t start right away other than that the tech side seemed to go off without a hitch. The scenery Even though it seemed to be a relatively simple it very well done with attention to detail to even match the date on the board. the idea of bouncing the projected photo off of a mirror on to a cloth to give it the desired distance was quite clever. props to the tech crew for there creativity. In closing are on the college campus and have five dollars to spare this show is well worth the investment. -Alex Diamond
Stage 2’s production of Speech and Debate written by Stephen Karem opened at the University of Minnesota, Duluth’s Dudley Experimental Theatre last night. Overall, the show was big success with only a few minor “opening night jitters” to distract from the powerful performance. Performers Emily Bengston, Thomas Matthes, and Dylan Rugh dug deep into the tortured souls of three teenagers dealing with extraordinary situations and brought their controversial stories to life. With each kid trying to protect their own reputation while at the same time trying to find others to lean on, the characters Diwata, Solomon, and Howie brought laughter, tension, and emotion to every audience member.
ReplyDeleteKoki Sabates made some memorable choices in her first ever role as a director; her strong personal conviction that the projection screen was an integral aspect of the show led to what was an intriguing prop. When Howie was messaging online, the audience messaged along with him. The audience could see each message and laughed along with Howie’s twisted humor. The projection of the conversation gave the audience a personal look into the single event that started the avalanche of secrets. As fun as reading the chat room conversation was, however, watching Howie as he sat in his bean-bag chair cracking smiles was the real highlight of the scene. His laughter at his own dumb jokes really sold his character immediately without him speaking a word. The audience could appreciate as well the non-stereotypical portrayal of a gay young man put forth from actor Dylan Rugh. In fact, the lack of stereotyping of the two boys throughout the play was refreshing and helped the audience better understand the issues and expectations that minority teenagers deal with at school and with adults.
Though stereotypical in her own right, the character of Diwata was by far the best comic relief of the performance. While she had her own tales of woe, her upbeat, yet sarcastic attitude and over-the-top speech practices made her what some would consider the typical, high school dramatist. Actress Emily Bengston who portrayed Diwata successfully captured the spirit of the confident-on-the-outside drama geek. Though the audience could sense that Diwata was fragile inside, actress Emily Bengton was able to insert her own brand of bubbly, goofy humor to make the audience laugh and appreciate her character as a leader to the misfit band of friends.
Finally, the character of Solomon was definitely a difficult personality to crack at first. His portrayal for the audience went from an over-excited, attention seeking journalist to a deeply conflicted, overly pressured kid in need of supporting friendships in the span of about one scene. From the beginning the audience thought of Solomon as a semi-conservative, overly mature young man with high, but misplaced, ambitions. Actor Thomas Matthes captured that character well, and convincingly acted the part of a “perfect child” in the audience’s eyes. Only in the intense fight and breakdown in “Scene 8: Declamation”, did the audience fully understand his conflicted and confused story. Matthes’ intense emotional breakdown grabbed the audience’s attention and made a great deal of the plot fall into place.
Throughout the play there were only some minor glitches. The audience could sometimes catch a prop falling out of place, see an actor bumping into a piece of the set, or hear a line be repeated, but none of these minor mistakes overshadowed the powerful performance of the actors. Those mistakes will hopefully be weeded out after that opening night, leaving the next performances up to even greater successes. The hip-hop soundtrack that filled out transitions, the wonderful use of technology with the projector screen, and the tension-filled and emotional performance by Emily, Thomas, and Dylan will all leave the next audience captivated. The actors’ convincing portrayals will stay with the audience for a long time, making them feel again and again for the three teenagers overcome by their own complicated circumstances.
Presenting their last show on September 19, 2015, Stephen Karen’s Speech and Debate was performed at University of Minnesota Duluth in Stage 2 Dudley Experimental Theatre. The cast, writer, production and director were doing their best from start to finish on their final show. The performers; Emily Bergsten, Thomas Matthes and Dylan Rugh played greatly as their characters in Speech and Debate. With Diwata, Solomon and Howie being in different situations and seeking different wants, they all came together that benefited each other despite of their differences. What they all have in common is that they want to be publicly noticed. Solomon wants his writing to appear on a newspaper, Diwata wanting to play as a main character in a play and starting the Speech and Debate club at a college and Howie wishing to be publicly accepted for who he is. From starting it comical to ending it depressingly sad, Speech and Debate is a show that people should come and watch.
ReplyDeleteThe beginning of the play started out intriguing and comical with Dylan Rugh, as Howe, messaging another person online in a chat room and having the audience being able to see what they are talking about. What made it comical was how Howe responded to the person online. It continued while introducing Thomas Matthes, as Solomon, arguing and trying to persuade his teacher about choosing a topic to write about that is not controversial. Finally Sue Bengtson, as Diwata, was introduced while drinking and ranting about her not being in a main role in a play by singing about it on a live podcast. Solomon meets with Howie when he found his number on Diwata’s blog post claiming that he has info about the mayor. Seeing that post, Solomon dials the number to get more information about the mayor scandal the stranger may have. Diwata meets Solomon as he is in the same room with her for the Speech and Debate club. Being the only one there, Solomon was able to persuade Diwata on being able to present his research on the mayor for exchange on having him part of the Speech and Debate club. While working on a restaurant, Diwata meets Howie and starts talking about information he has on the mayor. Solomon, Howie and Diwata all meet together while in the Speech and Debate club but they had a rough start. They all started to connect with each other when they all revealed each other’s secrets after they found out about Solomon’s secret that Diwata was able to reveal. After the problem was solved, they started to work together in order to achieve their needs. It was revealed on what they wanted as a reporter came in to investigate their club. At the end, they got all they wanted and what was surprising is when Diwata ended on her podcast saying that she is able to shut down a play if they were to performs it without her consent. What made the ending sad was when Solomon was in a chat room online but nobody else responded to him as he typed out his information.
The characters in the play seemed to go with the flow as if they were just talking to each other normally. The music in the background during the transition helped as the scenes were transitioned in order to continue the mood of the play. The jokes and actions of the characters were funny especially during Scene 10: Oral Interpretation of Prose. Only minor mistake were some rereading a line over but it was hard to notice due to the laughter from the audience from the comical parts from the show. Sadly with the 19th of September being their last day to perform Speech and Debate, I would highly recommended for people to watch.
The dull title “Speech and Debate” entirely underplays the actual laugh out loud comedy theatre act recreated by the UMD student run organization Stage 2. All the actors and actresses did a fantastic job of making the audience grow a bond to the characters and make everyone laugh, with the exception of a few slip ups. Although this play was very humorous, the topic was far from that. The play addresses very serious current issues. Combining these dark themes with comedy made for an outstanding play.
ReplyDeleteThe play Speech and Debate is a dark comedy that addresses difficult American society issues such as coming out as gay, statutory rape, and teen pregnancy. The play itself was pretty confusing at first, but all the scenes started to gradually tie together in building up the plot. Normally talking about the issues addressed in the play will divert most of a crowd, but director Koki Sabates’s play uses humor brilliantly to release the tension from the situation. Solomon throwing up when his problem was brought up to the group portrayed the pain it caused for him. With the overwhelming statistics of depression and suicide today seeing the group of students that were internally dealing with their problems band together was a heat-warming thing to see.
All of the actors and actresses portrayed the personalities of their characters very clearly creating a feeling of connection between the audience and the characters. Cassie Liberkowski played two separate smaller roles as a teacher and a reporter. With the exception of stumbling over her lines a few times she did a solid job acting. Thomas Matthes and Dylan Rugh playing Solomon and Howie clearly distinguished the gay characters personalities they were portraying. Howie, was a very laid back and introverted character that slowly became friends with the other two students even though he pretended to hate them. Dylan Rugh was constantly overreacting, intense, and ignorant, which I believe was how the character Solomon was to be depicted. Lastly, the comedy queen was Diwata who was played by Emily Sue Bengston. Her passionate and upbeat personality was only thwarted during her drunken rants about not getting the lead role in the school play.
For this play there was a clear separation of the audience and the cast and the audience was never physically involved. For this particular play this seemed like a good decision since the cast could create all the comedy through their lines and overt emotions. The props involved in the play were necessary, however, they seemed to distract the audience too much especially when they were accidentally bumped into or knocked over.
Stage 2, with the directing of Koki Sabates, put on a memorable performance for such a small cost and small audience. The play was definitely worth the cheap entry fee and all the audience members left with a multitude of laughs. This was the opening night so the few line mishaps and prop collisions were not too much of a surprise and were only short minor distractions. The cast had the audience laughing from start to finish and portrayed dauntingly difficult characters that were dealing with terrible life situations.
It was clear that Speech and Debate, a relatively dull sounding yet self-explanatory title, was written and performed for the audience to relate to it. The director, Koki Sabates, along with the writer, Stephen Karem, were able to accomplish that through the plot-line, the characters, the dialect, the setup of the stage, and the soundtrack.
ReplyDeleteIt is a known fact that conservative communities can be issues for gender-struggling, justice-seeking, sexually affected teens everywhere, and it's safe to say that Speech and Debate was able to portray these issues almost completely accurately. From the closeted, ashamed Solomon to the openly-gay, proud Howie, you were able to get a feel of the different types of teenagers struggling with gender recognition from their families and friends, which was something that could be easily relatable for a lot of students in the same position.
Despite the rather amateur acting skills of the teacher/news reporter, a few line slips here and there, and some props that were falling apart, the performance went pretty smoothly. That, of course, was made up for by the vivacious, bubbly breath of fresh air Diwata, played by Emily Bengton. From her melodramatic radio blog to her nude body stocking, Diwata’s comic relief, though deeply dark and sarcastic, was easily the highlight of the play.
Another factor that contributed to the play's success was the script. It was a modern play written using modern lingo. The adults spoke as adults and the kids spoke as kids- everyone sounded like they should so there was no age confusion. While there were a lot of dark, real issues explored, there was also a lot of humor and lighthearted jokes that ended up causing the message to sink in, creating an even balance of drama and comedy.
A pretty large part of the play was, of course, the setup. Located in the small, box-shaped black room known as the Dudley Theater, Speech and Debate was set up like a classroom for most of the performance, despite a slight change of furniture for the bedroom blogging scenes and the restaurant scene. The scenery and props were simple and mostly hand-made, and it was clear it was a low-budget play. This only helped give off a much more casual, comfortable vibe, and in a way it made you feel closer to the cast members. The fact that a video of a giant hand was featured writing the scene title on pieces of lined paper between scene changes also gave that relaxed, relatable feel. You were that student writing on that piece of paper.
Lastly, the soundtrack. They couldn’t have picked a more appropriate music selection for the theme of the play. Modern, contemporary pop with a bit of rap mixed in was what the audience heard in-between scenes. Many of the audience members (which consisted of mostly college students) were either clapping lightly to the beat or singing along to the lyrics. It was clear that the music director picked a selection of music appropriate to the current-times, being as that was the background of the play. This, of course, had a pretty great impact on the structure of the performance and how applicable it was to the struggles of everyday teenage life.
Speech and Debate
ReplyDeleteSpeech and Debate written by Stephen Karam who Is also written Sons of the prophet was produced at Dudley Experimental theatre in Marshall performing arts center on September 17-19 2015. The play was presented by stage 2 and directed by Koki Sabates who as first time director over pass her expectation by putting together a laughter combined with unforgettable entertainment play.
Speech and Debate captures all that is wrong with a society where the champion for one thing and at the same time resist it and censor it. In this case the director focuses freedom of speech. The directors vision was to make audience feel sympathy for the three main characters Diwata, Solomon, and Howie. Sebates primary objective was to for the audience to feel sympathy with the opinion that freedom of speech must permit peculiarity such as being gay and even to a point, advocate or ratify it.
At the beginning of the play every thing was at pieces and seemed not connected at all, there was Howie played by Dylan Rugh the new guy in town who is eager to find a mentor in his gay alliance group. Diwata the underrated actor/singer played by Emily Sue Bengtson who for some reason have a lot to say about the teachers. There is also Solomon a very hard to get to character played by Thomas Mattes, he has this old man inside him meaning he act more of a grown man rather than a teenager he is. At first he seems to be a person who is really confident for who he is but later come out as a conflicted person. The play focuses how this three come together, all of them having some sexual secret and they end up getting support from each other, each one of them have agenda and they try to work together to achieve each individual goals.
During the show I very much enjoyed the performers of Thomas Matthes who played the character of Solomon. He has some sort of self identity crisis and he basically running around trying to help others but all he is trying to is get attention. He chases after the truth as he puts it and want to expose the mayor and one of the teachers who are die hard conservative and yet they are secretly attracted or have relationship to person of same gender.
In addition to admirable work of the actors did, I was impressed in the technical aspect of the show although there one or two glitches with the light as one of the
light just burnt-out and there were smoke coming out that particular light. Except that the set was fashionable and it really gets the audience attention and was easier for the audience to release what that particular set was it for. The costumes of were well selected and did quite matched the scene of that time. what stand out mostly was the small screen where words are projected in and it was an important tool in engaging the audience and it help them keep track of the scenes. An example is at the first scene the poetry reading where Howie is at his computer and is chatting online and the chats are projected at the small screen.
I enjoyed this production, I would definitely recommend someone to watch It is worth seeing it.
By Abdullahi Mohamed
Moham984@d.umn.edu
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFrom hearing the title, Speech and Debate sounds like a dry, dull story we’ve all heard about kids in high school teaming up in an “unexpected” way. However, this play takes everything we already knew and throws in more scandal, secrets, and betrayal. Stage 2’s production of this play was a big success last weekend. The actors fit their roles well and brought the story to life, even with minimal set to work with.
ReplyDeleteDiwata, played by Emily Sue Bengston, was truly the star of the production. Her bright personality and craving to be a star easily made her stand out as the leader of the group. Her song filled monologue for her podcast was attention grabbing and really made the audience feel like she was their friend. Her openness helped the audience feel closer to Howie and Solomon as well, as she tended to bring out their personalities as well.
Solomon, played by Thomas Matthes, was hard to like at first with his pushiness and awkward personality. His obsession with exposing people’s secrets is starkly contrasted with how closed off and cold he appears for most of the play. We think we have his character type nailed down, until later on we see how vulnerable and lonely he really is.
Howie, played by Dylan Rugh, was the character that felt the most like just a regular guy. In the beginning of the play, he didn’t have Diwata and Solomon’s need to draw attention to the scandals happening around them. He just wanted to get through the rest of high school and move on with his life. But the more time he spent with them, the more he began to share the desire to take a stand and be noticed.
The play was truly unlike any other I’ve ever been to. It was clearly written and produced to appeal to a younger generation. The use of digital communication and discussion of controversy over abortion and homosexuality make this play difficult to transcend out of our era. These are hallmarks of the American experience in the 2000’s. Though this makes the play more relatable now, it could be an issue in future productions.
However, I did think this play was pretty well done overall. It had unexpectedly good acting, set design, and directing for an entirely student run production. I would recommend this play to people in high school and college as an interesting and exciting look into teenage issues.
The laugh out loud play of Stephen Karem’s Speech & Debate was performed by Stage 2 from September 17th to the 19th. The play took place in the Dudley Experimental Theater at the University of Minnesota Duluth. The plot was brought up to be about three teenagers who come together to solve and share their story. These teenagers Howie, played by Dylan Rugh, Solomon, played by Thomas Matthes, and Diwata, who was played by Emily Sue Bengson, all came from different backgrounds. Diwata had tried out for multiple plays in hope to get a leading role. Howie, the new kid in town, was trying to find someone to be a representative for the Gay Straight Alliance. Solomon, a school journalist for the school newspaper, keeps being told that the topics he wants to talk about are too controversial. The play brings three major issues to our attention and reveal how the teens are dealing with it.
ReplyDeleteThe performance talks about issues that are commonly known in today’s society. Those issues are teen pregnancy, statutory rape, and coming out as gay. The play was dark, humorous, and dramatic all at the same time. Director Koki Sabates made an interesting choice when she chose this particular play. The actors that were cast brought a roller coaster of emotions to the audience. The boring and unappealing title does not live up to the intriguing plot. The beginning of the play was intense and confusing at first, but as the performance went on the audience got more of an understanding of just what the actors where trying to tell us. The teens reacted to each situation in their own unique way. For example, when the group found out about Solomon’s rape he immediately threw up and was in denial about the whole situation. The actor’s feelings were so evident that the audience felt like they could feel the emotions of the actors. This was an overwhelming thing to witness.
The opening performance did however had a few misshapes. Throughout the play characters were stumbling over their words and hesitating. All of that is to be expected with the pressure that is opening night. Cassie Liberkoski, who played the minor roles of a teacher and reporter, did a decent job of being the snobby reporter that used the interview for her own self confidence when promoting her novel. Her character as a teacher however was not as well played. When telling Solomon about what he could and could not write in the school paper, she kept pacing back and forth as if she didn’t know what to do with herself. She repeated herself multiple times and stumbled on words. Dylan did a phenomenal job when portraying Howie who was dedicated to start a Gay Straight Alliance to have people except him in the conservative town of Salem. Diwata was one who thought she deserved her big break and wanted to start a speech and debate team to get recognized. Later in the play we find out the she had sex at a party when she was drunk. This caused her to have a pregnancy scare. Emily, had the audience on the edge of their seats. The fear of being a teenage mom is shown in the way Diwata approaches the situation at hand. Solomon was so intrigued when he found out that one of his teachers is supposedly having inappropriate relationships with minors. Other than messing up on his lines a couple of times, Thomas took his character to a whole new level when his so called “new found friends” bringing up the fact that during last year’s play Diwata saw him in the boys bathroom with his teacher; Thomas acted as if this was actually happening in his life. All in all, the three teenagers become unlikely friends after sharing their stories.
It was clear that all the actors had some slip ups here and there, but that did not stop them from having a well performed performance. The actors really stepped into their characters shoes and had the audience laughing, and the performance seemed to go pretty smoothly on opening night. The audience was moved by the three teenagers stories and how they came to be friends. I highly enjoyed the performance brought on by these very talented upcoming performers
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI had the opportunity to see Speech and Debate on it’s opening night at the Dudley Experimental Theatre at UMD. With the expectation of reading the description of the show beforehand, it seemed like this show may have been rather dark and dramatic. However, after seeing the show, it was clear that a lot of laughs drawn from the audience with the nature of the characters that the actors portrayed. The ability to have dramatic moments was also a highlight of this show, as coming back to drama from comedy is sometimes hard to accomplish.
ReplyDeleteThe show opens with a modern visualization of a chatroom between two gay men. It is an uncomfortable beginning, as the audience knows that a teacher at the school will be accused of maltreatment to his own male students in the future. From there, the show begins to introduce three central characters. Solomon is an aspiring journalist who perhaps knows a bit too much for his young high school age. The actor portraying Solomon is able to create a character with an annoyingly bugging personality that you’d expect from a writer. However, that does not protect him from his true nature. The best moments this actor creates is in his ability to switch from being a sarcastic teenager to a vulnerable hurt soul. Diwata is a podcasting teenager who rants about not getting into the school’s theatre department while binge drinking. Her performance of the character made you believe that in fact her character was rightfully denied a leading role in her audition. The actress does a marvelous job in portraying a lot of different qualities for her character: singing beyond reason, holding a team together, and plotting genius revenge. Finally, Howie is the character who is the annoyed one. The actor plays a very laissez-faire attitude, but he will be the first to let the other characters know when he’s ticked off.
The energy of the three actors is a great blend to see on stage. You will see them making you laugh, but they will also make you feel silent in anticipation for what is about to happen with their build up of dramatic suspense. A highlight moment from this show is when the three characters all perform a choreographed dance together, which enraptures a small fragment of teen spirit and the sense of ability to overcome past obstacles. The soundtracks selected for this show are also very modern, and I think that makes it more enticing of a show to the current college generation. All of the students involved with the production of this show did a magnificent job, and I left feeling really good about seeing a great show.
Speech and Debate - such a generic title. But wait! The show has much more to offer. Done by UMD’s Stage 2 theater company, you are taken into the lives of three teenagers struggling with issues deep within. This play, originally written by Stephen Karen, left the audience reaching for their tissue box while grabbing a fresh pair of underwear from the “laughter spills.”
ReplyDeleteThe cast did a phenomenal job conveying each character, and did a great job interacting - No character stood out more than another; they were all in unison. Solomon, an aspiring journalist, and also an enclosed gay, gave the audience goosebumps from the heart-wrenching truth of coming out. Thomas Matthes (Solomon) was superb. He displayed anger, frustration perseverance, dedication, and enthusiasm all in one performance. His acting skills were evenly matched to his co-star, Dylan Rugh, who played Howie, a new resident in Salem, Oregon, who was openly gay. Rugh persuades the audience to feel the same as Howie - whether it’s annoyed by Solomon’s questions, or vulnerable to breaking out new dance moves. In all, Rugh gave a fearless “out-of-the-closet” performance. The two are guided by their new acquaintance, Diwata. Neither will admit to being friends with her at first; her love for musical theater and The Crucible were too eccentric for them. But she brought the two together by making them join the Speech and Debate team. Diwata, played by Emily Sue Bengtson, is a lost, pregnant teen who is forced to make an unforgettable decision. Bengtson was outstanding. Her performance grasped at the audience’s eyes, ears, and soul, while also breaking stern moments with comedic relief. Her musical theater skills were even implied in this play - singing on Diwata’s caseo keyboard for her personal podcast. Together, they were the three musketeers - It would be hard to imagine the play without a specific character. In all, the characters were brought to life, and the audience felt deeply for each as they watched them struggle and conquer their biggest fears.
The small space provided for the set, the UMD’s Dudley Blackbox Theater, was perfect for the classroom/bedroom setting; it brought the audience into the rooms with the characters. For only having a week to design the stage, figuring out lighting, and sound, it was a job-well-done.
Preparation time for the actors was short: a mere 4 weeks for studying lines and rehearsing. The actors really felt the parts they were portraying. If they are in another UMD production occurring, their level of intimacy and multitasking another show deserves a round of applause!
Bravo to the student director, Koki Sabates! This being her first show directing, she did a wonderful casting, designing, and putting together an awesome soundtrack; It fit perfectly with the moral of the story, and put a much deeper meaning into the overall message.
The plot involves three lost high school students: it was relatable, it was quirky, it was fun, it left the audience wanting more. From nude body stockings, to a hilarious skit of The Crucible and Abraham Lincoln, to realistically throwing up in a trash bin, Speech and Debate left the audience with two fingers up! (Not their middle fingers, but their thumbs... or maybe both).
Speech and Debate was an interesting show that has teenagers use the Speech and Debate club to prove a point. My thoughts after I left the show were very different than that of when I was going to go see the show. Though I did catch some of the “Opening night jitters.” I thought the play was well done and the actors kept their cool throughout the performance. The actors made an extremely good play that I couldn’t stop thinking about for the past week.
ReplyDeleteThe play started off when Howe was sitting in the middle of the stage on a chatroom messaging an older person. You could tell from the first seconds of the conversation you could tell that the person on the other end of the conversation was an adult male and they wanted to meet up. The conversation moved on and it got more intense to the point where the adult was asking for pictures to a certain email. Howe recognized the email and ran off. It continued where Solomon, a teenage student was trying to be able to write a paper on a scandal involving the mayor. His teacher didn’t let him. Diwata was introduced as a teenage girl on a video blog complaining that she didn’t get the main role in the play. She was a little drunk and she was singing about how much she hated Mr. Healie. Later in the play Solomon confronted Howe about the conversation he had with Mr. Healie. Solomon convinced Diwata to use the Speech and Debate club to announce the scandal that his teacher didn’t let him do. The play uses their experiences practicing for the speech and Debate club and describes their own personal challenges.
The actors that were chosen for this play were perfect for their roles. They portrayed the personas almost perfectly. The jitters made them make mistakes but they incorporated those mistakes into the play itself and they didn’t let those mistakes stop what the play was supposed to be about. The actors seemed to act as if they were talking to each other normally. They didn’t act as if there was an audience watching them. Though they looked at us I don’t think that they were breaking the fourth wall. They made it pretty clear to the audience what was happening and what they were watching. Overall, a good play.
Last week, stage 2 presented their production of "Speech & Debate," which was performed at University of Minnesota, Duluth at the Dudley Experimental Theatre. The performance space was in a black box and holds a capacity of a hundred. The stage was closer to the audience and helped built a stronger connection. The simple set designed by Paige Schornak and Casey William, was completely handmade or borrowed from locals. The space and props was well used.
ReplyDeleteThe show presented three high school students from a conservative town, connected with each other through the problems they were facing. The beginning of the play started with Howie (Dylan Rugh) in the center of the dark stage messaging an older man about meeting up and later recognized who the man was. There was a projector which drawn the audience attention because they were able to see the conversation between Howie and the man. Dylan was able to show different emotions from the start to the end of the conversation. The music director, KT Magnolia Mueller was able to change the mood of the scene drastically with the chat room conversation through the emotions of the music. The next scene was of another student name Solomon played by Thomas Matthes, trying to convince his teacher (Cassie Liberkowski) to let him write a paper. The teacher denied his non-conservative topic. The two actors used the whole stage; they were able to carry the conversation from one space to another. When his teacher told him to talk to his parents about the topic he cannot express in school, he quickly changes his confident tone and lowered his voice. Thomas was able to introduce Solomon as a strong headed person but quickly expected to be broken on the inside. Lastly, the character Diwata played by Emily Sue Bengtson was introduced in her room drunk and ranting on a live broadcast about not getting the lead role in her school play. Her charismatic and bubbly personality stole the show with her speech directed to the theater teacher. Throughout the show Diwata openness cause the audience to feel a connection with her and made them feel empathy for her. Overall the actors were able to portray the characters in a real life situation where many college and high school students can relate to.
Director Koki Sabates was able to create a play using humor to show the troubles conflicting with the student’s lives. The director’s vision was seen throughout the play, by the deeper meaning of the student’s freedom of speech. From the different ways of how the students expressed themselves in the play from chat room, speeches, live broadcast, online, papers, music and conversations. Koki was able to direct a memorable and interesting production.
In addition, the lightening design of Mags Scanlon and custom design of Brain Saice improved the show. The lightening in each scene went along with its distinct part in the show. When the three students were performing Diwata’s dance the colorful light made the performance more appealing and vibrant. The personality of each character was shown through their clothing. The decisions made for the play complemented each other.
Lastly, the play had some small technical problems. A couple of light bulbs burnt-out and made a loud popping noise, which startled the audience and actors for a few seconds but did not affect their acting. There were a few times where the actors repeated their line, but were able to keep the conversation flowing. The actors did run into some props or dropped props. Overall, “Speech and Debate” was a humorous and interesting story about the conflicted lives of high school students. This production put on by students of the University of Minnesota-Duluth was able to cast and design a show worth seeing.
Gevashia Yang
Stage 2's production of Speech and Debate opened Thursday, September 17th, 2015 at the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Dudley Experimental Theatre. Excluding a few minor mistakes, their performance was a success and very enjoyable. Speech and Debate is a dark comedy that follows three high school students from the conservative town of Salem, Oregon. Each of the three characters was dealing with controversial issues that they were afraid to confront because of the judgement they knew would follow.
ReplyDeleteHowie (Dylan Rugh) was dealing with the fact that he was gay. During the show it was revealed he was using a chatroom to speak with an older man, who may have been someone he already knew quite well. Dylan portrayed Howie's character extremely well. It wasn't hard to see that Howie was a sarcastic, introverted individual, but Dylan did an amazing job at bringing out the humor in it. It was entertaining to see how Howie's personality clashed with Diwata's, a more extroverted character.
Diwata (Emily Sue Bengston) was a spirited girl who wasn't afraid to speak what was on her mind. She had dreams and she planned on following them. Diwata was definitely the biggest comic relief of the three main characters. Emily, the actor portraying Diwata, did an excellent job. Emily gave Diwata's character all of the sassiness that it needed, but also gave life to the more serious parts of the play.
The third character, Solomon (Thomas Matthes), was a journalist with a passion for getting the scoop on one of the teachers at his high school. Solomon is the one that really brings the three main characters together, in that he needs information from the three of them to finish his paper. There was humor in how passionate he was in his writing because he went to great lengths to get his information. Thomas really fit into the character of Solomon well, giving his character the passion that it needed.
The only mistakes during this play were very minor and included a couple times when the actors stood in front of the slides that played on the projectors between scenes, and a few stuttered lines.
Overall, Speech and Debate was an entertaining play. The production went fairly smooth, minus a few mistakes that could be passed off as opening night jitters. Being a student-run show, the quality of the production as a whole was impressive. The lighting and sound was good, and the actors fit their roles very well. The director, Koki Sabates, did a lovely job with this play.
Brooke Nicol
Speech and Debate was a show that was put on by University of Minnesota Duluth Stage 2, which is run by students. The show’s opening was on September 17th. Going into seeing this show I was expecting a low quality play because of the limited budget and because it was put on by students. That was not the case at all. The set was very appropriate for the play and the way they would go into each section was creative. They had a projection that would have someone write what the next section was. The set was mainly a classroom setting and when they needed it to be three different rooms they would have the actors go to three different places on the set and each area was their room. For the budget they had, they did a good job on their sets and costumes.
ReplyDeleteThe show was about three teenagers that all had controversial issues and they come together in this club called “speech and debate”. The three teens were Diwata ( Emily Sue Bengston), Solomon (Thomas Matthes) and Howie (Dylan Rugh). In my opinion the cast was well picked. The actors played their characters well and they seemed to take on the personality of their characters. Diwata is a spunky teen who loves to be in the spotlight and wants to star in her school’s plays. Emily Bengston portrayed her character well in this sense. She was loud and boisterous and it really fit her character. Solomon is a young journalist who will go to any lengths to get the story. He is the one who brought all of them together. Thomas Matthes would ask questions with the tone of what I would think to be a real journalist. Howie is a quieter person. He is openly gay and he goes online to chat with older men. Dylan did a good job at playing his character with sassiness.
Koki Sabates did a wonderful job of directing the play. Overall the play went well except for a few stuttered lines. I enjoyed it very much and it was entertaining. They were able to bring up touchy subjects with humor. Good job to the cast. It was a good play.
Jadey Tersini
On September 17, 2015, I went to the opening night of Stage 2’s Speech and Debate, written by Stephen Karem. Overall, it was an awesome show; the actors were marvelous, the script was serious with a comedic aspect to it, and it flowed very well from one scene to the next. I most appreciated that the whole thing was student run from the actors, to the director, to staffing the Stage 2’s group.
ReplyDeleteEmily Sue Bengston, a student at the University of Minnesota Duluth, plays the part of Diwata, an aspiring actress. Diwata continually tries out for the school musicals and plays, but her theatre director never casts her in lead roles. So, instead she decides to start a speech and debate team, where she can shine with her own success. The character Soloman, played by Thomas Matthes, is the student reporter for the school newspaper. He is trying to get the school administration to allow him to write news articles about controversial topics. He talks briefly with his teacher (Cassie Liberkowski, who also acts as the reporter) trying to convince her to talk to the principal about his upcoming, controversial article. The last character Howie, played by Dylan Rugh, was portrayed as a gay student who participated in online chats and wanted to start a Gay-Straight Alliance at his new school in Salem. He hadn’t made many friends yet and was freaked out when he recognized one of the emails, on his online chats, as his male teacher’s email; who was also the theatre director. All four of these actors and actresses brought a special piece to the show.
Each actor was obviously talented. Emily was able to act as a crazed actress, but also as a caring and kind friend. She brought such a strong voice to the show. Then, there was Thomas, who really got into his role as a reporter. His character was very passionate about controversial topics and really added a different presence to the play. Dylan was marvelous, he was able to act like such a jerk and have a constant attitude, but still be interested in his new found friends. I personally thought that the show could have gone without Cassie’s character(s). However, she played her characters to the best of her ability and still was able to show her talent.
Like every opening night, there were very minor mistakes. Cassie Liberowski seemed to struggle with many of her lines. Now I know that nerves are very common, but she messed up, the most, on her lines and she had the least. As an audience member it was a little frustrating. I recognized a couple slip-ups from Thomas Matthes, but nothing dramatic. Even though mistakes were made it was still a brilliant show.
One of my favorite parts of the show, was the music selection. It was so appropriate in describing the choice of music most high school students choose to listen to, and it was so good. I want it. I think that music can really make or break a show because it helps really set the mood for the show and I just really enjoyed it.
Overall, this play I would see over and over if I could. It was so good. I thought the price was extremely reasonable for the show we received and that the actors were top notch. I would highly recommend this particular play for college aged students who are looking for a comedy with a little bit of drama. Koki Sabates, the director, did a phenomenal job directing her first show. I hope I am able to see more of her work.
Serena Nebel
Speech and Debate was performed on September 17th in the Dudley theatre at University of Minnesota Duluth. The play was written by Stephen Karam and directed by UMD student, Koki Sabates. The show went well, especially for being the opening night act. Dylan Rugh, Thomas Matthes, and Emily Bengston did a great job depicting their characters in Speech and Debate. The title definitely doesn’t draw someone in the way it should for the storyline of the play, but if someone were to commit to seeing it, they wouldn’t be disappointed.
ReplyDeleteThe characters Diwata, Howie, and Solomon had their own problems to face, but learned to come together despite their differences. Each of them wanted to be noticed in their own way, yet each of them had something to hide. Diwata wished to star in a play, and get a Speech and Debate club started at school. Solomon hoped to have his writing appear in the newspaper, and Howie just wanted to be accepted the way he was. The beginning started off humorous, and it eventually got down to somewhat upsetting times.
It was a nice transition into the beginning of the show seeing the chat Howie had with another person online shown up on a projector screen. It was comical being able to read the responses for oneself, and seeing the whole conversation unfold. Next, Howie (Thomas Matthes) comes in to persuade his teacher to be able to write about a “non-controversial” topic. Lastly, Diwata (Sue Bengston) comes into the scene drinking and ranting about the fact that she didn’t get a scene she wanted in a play. While doing so, she sings of this in a live podcast.
The performance ran rather smoothly. Nothing seemed to be mistaken that was too noticeable. A few times the actors bumped into props here and there, which was noticeable yet not particularly distracting. Diwata probably had the most difficult task with her personality and voice she acted. Her effort of acting as her character was well recognized and appreciated. Her humor and sarcasm was a huge contribution to the play amidst the three’s problems.
The script was modernized to the appropriate lingo we have nowadays, which makes it more relatable and funny allowing the actors to be straight up about certain things. Each person acted appropriately for the character they played. The adults were known as adults and the young adults as young adults. Also, besides the side of dark secrets that were thrown out there, there was a lot of humor to balance each end out, which worked really well.
In between scenes ran pretty smoothly. The best part about in between scenes was having that background music in there, which fit perfect with some pop and rap each time they had a scene change. The props and set-up you could tell were at a minimum, but they had what they needed to make it run nicely. Also, the lights ran very well, there wasn’t a time that you could notice any mistakes with the light crew.
Overall, this was a great production that I would recommend to anyone looking for an interesting plot twist relating to some common struggles and controversies people experience in life.
Priya Sulzer
The Stage 2 production of “Speech and Debate’ was remarkably well done. This show taking place in Trojan high school in 2007 tackles one of the major social issues of its time as well as showing the complex decisions teens are dealing with. the play does an overall good job of conveying it message
ReplyDeleteThe actors excelled at there roles as high school students each with varying interests who must all work together to achieve their desired goals. Special notation should be given to actor Cassie Liberkowski who played not only the role of the teacher but also took on the role of the reporter.
The only technical flaw in this play was when the character Diwata (played by Emily Bemgtson) went to push play on the keyboard and the music didn’t start right away other than that the tech side seemed to go off without a hitch. The scenery Even though it seemed to be a relatively simple it very well done with attention to detail to even match the date on the board. the idea of bouncing the projected photo off of a mirror on to a cloth to give it the desired distance was quite clever. props to the tech crew for there creativity. In closing are on the college campus and have five dollars to spare this show is well worth the investment.
-Alex Diamond