The Forum

CORRECTION: A section of this article previously misientified an actor as Helen M. Carter. That section of the article should have identified the subject as Jaylen Gregory, with quotes there attributed to him. The online version of this article has been updated to reflect this. The Forum regrets the error.

In the magical round theater, there is light, and then there is dark. The Fever, written by Wallace Shawn, is dark. Originally written for a one-person cast, the play was adapted to accommodate six actors, who show the emotional and riveting experience of a dark mind. All six actors put their own twists and turns on the script but collaborate to create one giant hive mind.  

Cobie Moses:

We dug deep into his past 15 years of experience in acting we talked about how he began, and how he will continue and his love for community theater. He said it was very difficult getting into the character, because there are some things that he would say, and have to laugh at that are completely serious topics, but with his dream of being a theater professor he took on the challenge.  

Olivia Rhodes:

Rhodes is a classically trained local vocalist who has been taking acting classes and dancing classes to improve her performance on stage. When taking acting class, she met up with Brian Rolf, director of the play and he asked her to try out. She was skeptical at first, but after reading the script all the way through, especially the director’s script, she was fascinated and became actor number six. She said it was somewhat difficult to get into her character, but that a trip to Chicago really helped. She said she got to see a lot of different perspectives.    

Jaylen Gregory:

This will be his first play, and with that comes new obstacles and new fears. He says he’s nervous about performing for the first time and that he doesn’t want to get on stage and freeze. He said it’s a different kind of theater than most people are used to, with the actors reading around a table, which made it kind of difficult to learn his lines but that he’s fully prepared and excited to take on the new challenges.  

He said the casting director did an amazing job of finding people that could bond so quickly, and really become a hive. He also said that he does connect with the character and that this play is so deep that some people might walk out, and tears definitely will be shed. I talked to him about some other ways he connected.

Everybody has different realizations," says Gregory. I also talked about how he prepared for the role to which he said "So at first I was like there was not much information to go off of and then we finally got into the room, and you saw the play. I was like OK I understand why we didn’t get a good description of this because it’s kind of a personal description that you have to get from (experiencing) this."  

Admission is free and open on a first-come, first-served basis. Interpretation is provided for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The Fever is open to audiences ages 16 and above.  

Performances will be held in the Multipurpose Room of the Student Center on Oct. 26 at 11:15 a.m., and Oct. 27 and 28 at 7:30 p.m. with a Sunday matinee Oct. 29 at 2 p.m.