This weekend, the Historic Quad on Mercer University’s Macon campus will transform into a dream world containing giant puppets, aerial acts, fire twirling and other circus-style spectacles.
Mercer Theatre’s original production, “Dragon’s Dream: Circanium,” will be performed on March 28 and 29. At 7:30 p.m., a procession of props and characters will travel from Mercer Village to the Historic Quad, where the show will begin at 8 p.m. The outdoor, family-friendly event is free and open to the community, and attendees are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs and snacks.
“I think people will leave feeling good and humming some of the songs,” said Scot Mann, Mercer theater professor. “I think that there’s a huge element of joy when you can bring the community together in a way that allows everybody to be there and be who they are.”
The show brings to life the concept of devised theater that Mann spent last year studying while on sabbatical. Devised theater starts without a script and focuses more on the creative process, building the production around a theme and/or the ensemble’s talents.
Mann worked with a professor at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and, upon returning to Mercer, taught a class specifically on devised theater. The upcoming show builds upon that course, a circus arts class that Mann taught two years ago, and Mercer Theatre’s 2021 outdoor production “The Phoenix Project.”
Mann said the idea emerged for the show to revolve around a “Dungeons and Dragons” dungeon master who sends the game participants into a circus world. He envisioned a series of events that led up to an encounter with a dragon, and he wanted the scenes to incorporate circus skills that Mercer students had previously learned as well as new skills. After the first rehearsals, Mann wrote the rest of the show.
“You’re following this group of adventurers through this world that they don’t know, and they’re discovering more about themselves as they go,” he said. “They’re discovering their fears and frailties. The monsters are metaphors for the things that make it difficult to graduate. They’re always heading toward this dragon that they’ve always been told is their adversary, but the end with the dragon is very unexpected.”
In addition to the dragon, monsters in the show include an undead wizard or “lich,” a ribbon demon and a bear. Many of them are large-scale puppets, which required a lot of creative experimentation and trial and error to see what would work, said Francesca Rollins, Mercer Theatre program director.
The story is brought to life through various arts, including aerial silk and hoop routines on a 20-foot trapeze; dance numbers; fire twirlers and breathers; stilt walkers; shadow puppets; and choreographed fight scenes.
“It’s been really cool watching students build these skills and create these stories around them. What a unique process to be a part of,” Rollins said. “It’s a show created by the collective. It is an unknown story that will unfold with our audience. It is something you cannot see elsewhere in Middle Georgia. The fact that this is so accessible and open to everyone makes it not just an amazing art event but it makes it a really great community arts event as well.”
Students, faculty, community members and professionals have come together for this production, Mann said. Aerialist Jessica Lyszczasz, fire performers Kristin Wright and Jordan Harwood, and production choreographer Jessica Hardman have been training students for some of the acts. Freshman Lance Bolmer composed the music, and Taylor Shaw is working with him on the music arrangement and sound engineering.
“What makes it really special is that so many different people have been working on it behind the scenes for over a year, and seeing it come together is going to be beautiful,” said Shaw, who is graduating in May with a master’s degree in cybersecurity and bachelor’s degree in theater. “Everyone will get to see it for free. It’s the most wonderful version of theater that you can have. I’m very proud of everyone that’s involved, and I can’t wait to share what we’ve been doing.”
Shaw also built one of the giant puppets; is part of the performance ensemble; and designed a wireless sound system – a first for Mercer Theatre productions – for their senior project.
“Typically in theater, we have a lot of wires we have to transport and connect speakers to an audio mixer. It gets really messy,” Shaw said. “I’m creating a whole new Wi-Fi network, so we can stream the audio wirelessless to the theater.”
Allie Hodges, a senior theater and communication studies double-major, is the co-fight choreographer with Mann and choreographed the show’s culminating battle scene for her senior project. She is a member of the Society of American Fight Directors and is a certified actor combatant in broadsword and quarterstaff. In addition, Hodges is dancing, fighting and spinning fire as part of the cast.
“I’m normally on the choreography and design side. It’s nice to be a part of so many parts of this show,” Hodges said. “Everybody gets to do a little bit of everything. I get to have fun and tell this really awesome ‘Dungeons and Dragons’-style story. I’m able to do some of the choreography that Scot and I created. It’s really cool to see it come to life.”
Lu Borgia, a junior graphic design and theater double-major, designed the show’s promotional poster, built a jellyfish puppet and a dragon head, and will perform on stage as an aerialist and a character named Raven. Borgia has enjoyed the training and even the long rehearsals.
“I like seeing my friends, brainstorming and working things out as we go. I think community is the beauty of theater, and there’s nowhere else like it,” Borgia said. “(This show) is really a time to bring people out into the community and all interact and have some fun. There’s going to be fire; there’s going to be audience interactions. It’s a lot of spectacle.”
Mann said “Dragon’s Dream” has allowed students to try different things and establish new skillsets. It has given them experience in the side of theater training that involves special effects and specialty performances, a direction that many Mercer theater graduates go in their careers.
“With this kind of show, when it’s being devised, there’s not a script on the table saying ‘this is the right thing’ or ‘this is the wrong thing.’ It’s OK to try things,” he said. “It’s giving people permission to learn something new in a different field, and all of them are starting at the same level.”
Rollins said exposure to “creative risk-taking” helps to facilitate growth in theater students and shows them the role of experimentation and even failure as part of the process.
“The commitment from the students doing that show is really what’s making this happen. It’s an amazing group of students who have committed to the program, committed to the progress, committed to just doing,” Rollins said.
“We hope (the students) have an experience that they are proud of and that gives them the skills to be successful in whatever they want to do in the future. I hope … the performance itself builds a space for our community to be together in a way that is positive, uplifting and supportive.”
