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Printer-Friendly ModeSVSU theatre's production of "Angels" wins award
September 10, 2007 —
"Angels in America," a play put on by SVSU faculty and students of the theatre department recently won the Community Pride Award at the Sixth Annual Oscar Wilde Awards in Detroit. It was awarded in light of the play continuing on in the midst of heavy opposition to the play's content.
The Oscar Wilde Awards is an event held every year in praise of outstanding theatre performances. The awards are sponsored by Between the Lines, a gay and lesbian magazine out of Detroit that covers theatre.
The ceremony took place in Detroit's Gem Theatre on August 29. SVSU's production of "Angels of America" was among the first from outside the Detroit area to have won such an award.
Those from SVSU that attended the awards ceremony were President Eric Gilbertson, Assistant Professor of Theatre Ric Roberts, and Chad Baker and Caleb Knutson, two students who played lead roles.
The Pulitzer-Prize winning play was originally written by Tony Kushner. It centers around Louis Ironson and Prior Walter, a homosexual couple coping with how AIDS affects their relationship, and Joe and Harper Pitt, a conservative heterosexual married couple. However, it was the homosexual content that had aroused anger in many conservative family groups including the American Family Association.
Because of prior conflict over the play Gilbertson's receiving of the award was met with a thunderous standing ovation by those in attendance.
It was this event in particular that reminded him of the importance of bringing up these sorts of issues at educational institutions, despite pressure to do otherwise.
"The award was not about the play itself," Gilbertson said. "The award was about just doing the production under the adverse circumstances."
Roberts, the director of the play, commented on how he will probably never forget having to cope with the pressure placed upon himself and the University from the AFA.
"They wanted to fire President Gilbertson, they wanted me arrested and the show shut down," Roberts said.
Despite dealing with the fear of losing his job and having the play shut down, Roberts said that Gilbertson and other members of the SVSU administration tried to put his anxieties at ease by urging him to go on with the play as scheduled.
Perhaps the most profound coming of age that occured involved some of the students who actually played roles in the performance.
Knutson, a theatre major and communication minor, fondly recalls that playing the lead role of Louis Ironson in "Angels" was an important learning experience.
"For me, this play meant that I could do a role that I didn't necessarily agree with or one hundred percent believe in, but I can still put one hundred and ten percent into the character. This way I know I've challenged myself tremendously."