This article originally appeared in , and was written by Jodi Duckett.
We have a lot of stuff — way too much, actually.
That's the theme of the new, appropriately named, piece that Moravian College Theatre is presenting this weekend.
"Stuff" is a play about UN-sustainability and was created to support the college's year-long focus on the theme of sustainability.
Christopher Shorr, director of Moravian theater and director of "Stuff," says the department tries to do a project every year connected to the college's theme.
"Stuff" is not a typical play — it's what's called a "devised" work, in which creators start with a theme and build the work as they go. Shorr is an ensemble member at Touchstone Theatre in Bethlehem, which excels in this kind of work and has a professional relationship with Moravian College. Touchstone artistic director JP Jordan co-designed the set and did lighting design.
"You go into the rehearsal process with no script but an idea of what you want to create," Shorr says. "The actors are not just actors but actor/creators. Through the course of working from different prompts a director gives, the actors discover and create material, and that material is organized into a performance.
"This process gives them more ownership. They're not just the mouthpiece but the creators."
There are five actor-creators: Corinne Philbin, Alex Pena, Dalton Hornberger, Kayli Silimperi and Kayleigh Ficarra.
Shorr says he came up with the title, and that was the only constraint.
"I would give them writing prompts. I would say, 'Everybody take out a paper and pencil and brainstorm everything you can think of that is in your junk drawer' or 'If you could streamline your life by getting rid of stuff, what sort of stuff would you get rid of?'"
"We used the idea that quantities of certain kinds of stuff in the world lead to a certain congestion, whether that is literal and physical like a bunch of garbage in the ocean creating congestion in the waterway, or a more of a mental/emotional congestion that gets in the way of free-flowing thought and relaxation."
The result is a piece that isn't a traditional narrative. It's like four chapters built around four elements — plastic toys, water bottles, clothing and paper.
"These things seem to resonate with people," Shorr says.
Some chapters include songs, dance and video, which is sometimes a background and sometimes a focal point. Some video was created through interviews with students.
Shorr says there is not a traditional script, but neither is the piece improvised. "There's a flexible format where it isn't going to be exactly the same way each night."
Shorr and his team also are practicing what the play preaches.
"We also wanted to use the piece to analyze the sustainability of our own approaches. We wanted to be greener in our own theater-making."
As a result, the production was created without spending much money and "accumulating more stuff," Shorr says.
The team got items from thrift stores that were ready to get thrown out. All the paper was ready to be recycled, and will be recycled after the show. Clothing already was on hand and will be donated after the show, Shorr says.
Posters were made from ripped-up pieces of cardboard and old posters. The playbill is a single sheet of information printed on the back of something else.
Money from the production budget saved by not spending on costumes and props will be invested in new, energy-efficient equipment for the theater, including LED lighting fixtures, Shorr says.
•"Stuff," 8 p.m. Thursday to Sunday, Moravian College, Arena Theatre, Haupert Union Building, 1200 Main St., Bethlehem. Tickets: $15; $10, seniors; pay-what-you-will, students. , 610-861-1489, moravian.edu/theatre.