The Edge Effect, a new play
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Pentmond+Co. is a start up theatre company based out of Gordon College, formed with the intent to create and show an original play at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer.
Why The Edge Effect?
The Gordon College theatre department doesn't have the ability to offer as many opportunities as our students need and want, both backstage and in the spotlight. So The Edge Effect was a response to that need, providing opportunities for 13 students to write, design, act in, and assist with a show both stateside and abroad. The students of the department have also been looking for more resume-broadening experience, and a student-made international production definitely fits the bill for that one!
We (Jess and Hannah, co-writers/co-directors) are students of both Theatre and English, and have been searching for a place to practically use skills from both of those studies. After visiting the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013, it soon became clear that we needed to return to the hub of new and exciting theatre with our own work. Two years and countless script drafts later, we have designers, a cast, and a performance run at Gordon College: in short, the makings of a great play that tells the story of in-between places.
The Edge Effect seemed the perfect solution to all of those problems. Not that it’s an easy solution. Doing a play abroad requires a lot of support, socially (hit us up on Twitter or FB) and most important, financially. This is where you come in! There are trip fees, participant fees, and production costs to worry about. We are keeping the production as simple as we can, but even simplicity requires capital. There will also be other fundraisers, mostly specific to New England area, so look out for updates on those soon!
But at the end of the day, the project isn’t just about experience, or us, or even opportunities for other students. It’s about the difficulty of finding balance in ever-changing relationships and places, and sharing the long process of learning to make your own silver-linings.
What’s the play actually about?
The Edge Effect consists of 4 vignettes of “in-between places”. The characters in each scene grapple with adapting to new relationships, alterations to established relationships, and the inevitable losses that come with both. The cast of 3 women and 2 men play a smorgasbord of characters, from naval officers to college freshmen to counselors, all exploring the spectrum of human response to impossible situations. The actual “edge effect” is an ecology concept that describes adaptation which must take place on the boundary between 2 distinct habitats types resulting in bursts of unprecedented diversity of life (read more about it here. Like the actual edge effect, the play ends with that unprecedented burst of life that can only be a product of risky places, tying back into our Christianity and belief in the ultimate triumph of redemption.
Why The Edge Effect?
The Gordon College theatre department doesn't have the ability to offer as many opportunities as our students need and want, both backstage and in the spotlight. So The Edge Effect was a response to that need, providing opportunities for 13 students to write, design, act in, and assist with a show both stateside and abroad. The students of the department have also been looking for more resume-broadening experience, and a student-made international production definitely fits the bill for that one!
We (Jess and Hannah, co-writers/co-directors) are students of both Theatre and English, and have been searching for a place to practically use skills from both of those studies. After visiting the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013, it soon became clear that we needed to return to the hub of new and exciting theatre with our own work. Two years and countless script drafts later, we have designers, a cast, and a performance run at Gordon College: in short, the makings of a great play that tells the story of in-between places.
The Edge Effect seemed the perfect solution to all of those problems. Not that it’s an easy solution. Doing a play abroad requires a lot of support, socially (hit us up on Twitter or FB) and most important, financially. This is where you come in! There are trip fees, participant fees, and production costs to worry about. We are keeping the production as simple as we can, but even simplicity requires capital. There will also be other fundraisers, mostly specific to New England area, so look out for updates on those soon!
But at the end of the day, the project isn’t just about experience, or us, or even opportunities for other students. It’s about the difficulty of finding balance in ever-changing relationships and places, and sharing the long process of learning to make your own silver-linings.
What’s the play actually about?
The Edge Effect consists of 4 vignettes of “in-between places”. The characters in each scene grapple with adapting to new relationships, alterations to established relationships, and the inevitable losses that come with both. The cast of 3 women and 2 men play a smorgasbord of characters, from naval officers to college freshmen to counselors, all exploring the spectrum of human response to impossible situations. The actual “edge effect” is an ecology concept that describes adaptation which must take place on the boundary between 2 distinct habitats types resulting in bursts of unprecedented diversity of life (read more about it here. Like the actual edge effect, the play ends with that unprecedented burst of life that can only be a product of risky places, tying back into our Christianity and belief in the ultimate triumph of redemption.
Organizer
Hannah Pentico
Organizer
Wenham, MA