The Collegio Pittsburg's student voice since 1916
Alyssa Tyler editor in chief
Pitt State theater is pulling the curtain back to showcase their latest production, Mrs. Dalloway. A novel written by Virgina Wolf in 1925. The near century-old novel follows Clarissa Dalloway years after the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic.
‘It’s a stage adaptation of a Virginia Wolf novel that tries to capture the modernist stream of consciousness (as a) writing style,” Instructor for the communications department and director of Mrs. Dalloway, Linden Little said. “So, it’s inside the thoughts of characters and then outside the thoughts and jumps back in time and jumps forward. It’s about capturing the way the mind works on paper. This is an adaptation to try and bring that form to a theatrical setting.”
Little chose Mrs. Dalloway for many reasons such as the parallels between pandemics.
“It is a pretty high concept,” Little said. “One, we want to challenge our students, so we do things like that every once in a while. But two, the play takes place in 1923. So when I was preparing to direct for this season, it was 2023, so it was exactly a hundred years. And so, the parallels between now and then were what struck me about this text.”
The set for Mrs. Dalloway is different from past Pitt State productions. During production the team of actors use videos created by artificial intelligence to showcase different scenes. For example, when they are on a bustling street compared to back in Mrs. Dalloway’s home. Little also described the set as whimsical and floral, something to showcase the direct contrast between the tone of the play and the set.
“So that’s in direct contrast with the tone of the play. I always wanted to go for a bittersweet taste of summer,” Little said. “Sometimes it’s more bitter, sometimes it’s more sweet. Especially during the front half of it. But it’s a very serious topic because we have a World War I veteran with PTSD or shell shock as they called it then, so that’s one character (and) that’s a very serious arc.”
Libby Vogel, senior in communications began as the stage manager and then transitioned into the cast. This has offered Vogel a unique production perspective.
“I recognize the script in a very deep manner because of how I worked with it, with the crew side… a lot on meanings behind the show, meanings behind costumes, how we want sets designed. And so then having to step into a role after that, it’s given me a much deeper appreciation for all the little things that they’ve also done in the show.”
Vogel said that she is excited about how the audience will engage with the narrative aspect.
“I’m excited for the style of show,” Vogel said. “I think it’s so interesting how we have it set. I love the narrative elements and the thoughtfulness of all of the movements and how we portray the people on stage that are both narrative and character. Especially in our costume and in certain directions. And I love that narrative aspect of the show, and I’m really excited for people to engage with it in their own thought process and how they perceive the world in other visual aspects.”
Tickets are free with those who have a valid PSU ID. Tickets are then priced as: $14 for the general public, $9 for 17 and under and 65 and older. Tickets are available through the PSU Ticket Office (137 Weede Physical Education Building). Tickets may be purchased by calling 620.235.4796, by going online to pittstate.edu/tickets, or at the door approximately 30 minutes prior to curtain.