What would you do if death confronted you? “Everyman”, a play presented by Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences’ Division of Performing and Visual Arts through Feb. 23, challenges that notion.
A modern take on the 15th century play, “Everyman” centers around the wedding reception of allegorical characters Everyman, the bride, and Beauty, the groom, and wedding guests like Knowledge, Kindred, and Strength.
Michael Yawney, a professor at Florida International University, has known NSU faculty for awhile, and became the production’s director after a discussion with Mark Duncan, assistant director of PVA.
Yawney, who teaches directing and playwriting, said that Everyman is forced to face death and contemplate the life she’s been living.
“It’s the story of someone who loves material things and fine things and wealth, and when this person is confronted with death, they realize what really matters,” said Yawney.
The characters portray classic wedding guests like the emotional mother of the groom, the friend who has had too much to drink, and the overzealous selfie-taking sister. To model a real wedding, Yawney took into consideration each cast members’ experiences at weddings, including the type of music that is played.
“We were talking about what dances they liked, what dances they don’t like, what happens when they go to weddings, what customs are at the weddings they go to, what they’re used to seeing,” said Yawney.
Audiences can expect to hear and see the cast break out in a popular dance craze, the Wobble, which contributes to the play’s modern feel.
Freshman psychology major Awilda Ortiz saw the play on its opening night, Feb. 14, and liked it, though she found it confusing.
“I thought it was good,” she said. “I didn’t really understand the background because I don’t really know what Everyman is, but I think they all did a good job.”
Mariah Busk, the sophomore musical theatre major who plays Everyman, said this role is different from her previous roles in PVA plays such as “Sylvia”, “Once on this Island” and “Trojan Women”, especially because the cast had to learn Middle English dialect.
Busk said, “It’s a great show. The language may be a little difficult to understand at first but it’s an easy story that a lot of people can relate to and go on the journey along with Everyman and see the lessons that she learns, and learn from them too.”
Sophomore musical theatre major Marianne Martinez plays Fellowship, the maid of honor.
“She’s basically all talk and no action, she says she’ll be there for her best friend but it’s sort of that frenemy that when things get tough, she gets scared,” said Martinez of her character.
Yawney, who also directed NSU’s production of “The Laramie Project” in 2007, said the cast rehearsed for six weeks, five nights a week. He thought the hard work paid off on opening night.
“It was a real mystery because in the play, the humor at times is so odd that it’s hard to know what the audience was going to laugh at and what they weren’t,” she Yawney. “But it was a really smart audience and the actors were amazing.”
He hopes people check out the show because it has many relatable elements.
“It’s terrific actors doing a great play,” he sai. “It’s funny, it’s sad, it’s goofy, it’s serious. It’s this play that’s hundreds and hundreds of years old, but it really talks about the lives everybody lives.”
Check out “Everyman” Feb. 21 and Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. in the Don Taft University Center’s Black Box Theatre. Tickets are $10 each, but based on availability, NSU students may be admitted for free by showing their SharkCard to the box office on the day of the show. For more information, call the box office at 954-262-8179.
