Story by Julianne Parker
Photos by Gabe Carlin
The opening scene of Pierced Poetics, written and directed by Thomas Varga, begins with eerie red lighting and an intense cohesion of instrumental music, lyrical script, and artistic movement. These elements tangle together into a dramatic performance surrounding the kidnappings of several characters.
Immediately I felt a pang of mild dread, assuming that this was surely going to be a hard to follow performance that was too artsy for a non-theater arts major to understand, much less write a review about. While this sentiment of confusion lasted for the better part of the beginning of the play, it was not frustration or boredom that this confusion created. Instead it left the audience in a compelling state of curiosity working to figure out where the story was going to take them.
With an intensely dynamic and talented cast of seven people, each actor was not only well casted into their roles, but each also commanded that the audience recognize their character’s uniqueness.
The story began with the kidnapping of many characters: a belligerent school janitor (Jason Rowe), a hilariously hyper-anxious librarian (Caitlin Winkenbach), and a dynamic English teacher (John Turner), who are taken by a gang of aspiring writers called Pierced Poetics, who use their victims as their own literary inspiration.
Their philosophy? “Suffering inspires the best art.”
The leader of Pierced Poetics, Sebastian (Andrew Poletto), is a despondent somber writer desperately trying to write something meaningful—and uses an inappropriate relationship with a high school student Julia (Sophia June) as inspiration.
Sebastian’s skeptical daughter Sylvia (Maggie May Stabile), and her perverse love interest, Foutch (Arian Leffingwell) continue the Pierced Poetics legacy. However, Sylvia strongly believes in love and throughout the play struggles to accept her place in Pierced Poetics’ grim and darkly written world.
Pierced Poetics intertwines the stories of the seven characters, whose complex and intricate storyline comes together in an intensely dramatic and hilariously comedic performance that prompts the question: do you expect life to be well written?
In Sebastian’s final written words at the end of the play he answers this question. “That’s how life is suppose to be. A poorly written story with no rules. But of course, a perfect ending.”
Pierced Poetics left the audience with this assertion: “You’re all writers. So write.”
The performance took place in the University of Oregon’s production theater, The Pocket Playhouse, an entirely student run organization that gives students the creative opportunity to craft their artistic vision on stage.
In such a small and intimate setting as “The Pocket”, the cast’s performances rely heavily on audience reaction.
“It’s such an adrenaline rush,” says Sophia June, who played the part of the rebellious teenager, Julia. “It’s so much fun to be in front of an audience; they gave us so much.”
“When I perform in front of my friends I feel a lot of energy,” says John Turner, who played the hysterically dramatic role of English teacher, Mr. Wyatt. “I put that into my performance.”
The audience of about 30 people was largely made up of theater arts majors and friends and family of the cast and crew, who had high expectations for the show—after all, they knew the level of talent involved.
“It was genius. Brilliant,” audience member Jade Edmondson says. “I can’t put it into words. I’m still taking it in.”
Theater attendee David Rodriquez also called the show brilliant, and added that it was, “so different, and so needed to be said.”
This play was not an artistic rendition of someone else’s work. It was an original and creative idea that came together in a darkly funny, thought challenging, and purely entertaining production, that I would highly recommend to anyone.
“I shifted from thinking about the show as a drama to a dark comedy purely due to what the actors brought to the table,” director Thomas Varga says. “Nothing can be all dark or all light, there has to be a balance.”
