ZOE KIRIAZIS
Staff Writer
For visual and performing arts students, Fredonia provides many opportunities to display their artwork and perform independent projects. Many students produce work from established playwrights; however, the creation of original work is becoming more popular.
On Jan. 20 at the Lanford House, the musical “Dollhouse” premiered with book and score by junior composition and viola performance major Rachael Smith, and was produced by the Performing Arts Company.
Q: What led to you writing and composing “Dollhouse”?
A: A few things. The first thing is kind of a personal anecdote. I was dating this guy, and he was talking to this mutual friend of ours and said, “A good thing, you know, Rachael is pretty because she’s not going to make it as a composer. That’s a stupid idea.” It was the first time that I felt like people didn’t believe in me, and my only value was as a thing to look at. That sat out with me for a little bit. Then I took this class, Posthumanism, and we talked about what it meant to be a person and how that can be a confining thing. It was then I thought, “OK, let’s take all these different pieces of my life right now, form it together and make a show.”
Q: For those who couldn’t attend the performances, what is “Dollhouse” about?
A: “Dollhouse” is about this girl named Kara who comes into the dollhouse, but she’s been mispackaged. While all the other dolls have this preset experience that all girls like pink, all girls like things that are sparkly and all girls want to be beautiful. That’s it. Kara was packaged in what would be considered as male accessories. She has a different idea of what it means to be a person.
She enters the dollhouse where all the other dolls see her and think, “Oh no! This is against the manual that we are given. This is against the expectation of what we are supposed to be like.” The dolls try to change her and fit her into this mold. The show is Kara trying to figure out whether it’s better to take the path of least resistance to try and fit into their way of life or if it’s better to go off and do her own thing.
Q: How was the process for you from start to finish?
A: Being the person who wrote both the music and the book for the show, it was a lot of work. I found that one of the most difficult things was that it was hard to first get down everything that was in my head. You can think, “Yeah, what I wrote down matches what I have in my head,” but at the same time you don’t necessarily fill in everything that you are thinking because you’re the one reading it. When you pass the show off to someone else there are holes in it. Trying to connect the book of the show and the music of the show took a very long time to write.
From there, the editing process took a very long time. I had three different composition professors, my Post-Humanism professor and some people from home look at it. I wasn’t even going to submit to PAC. I thought that this was what it is, maybe an exercise for something bigger. I didn’t know what to do with it.
I went to a conference, and the question I got a lot was, “Who’s going to perform this? This needs to be performed.” And now here we are.
Q: The premiere of your show was the first weekend of school. How was that experience?
A: It was overwhelming from start to finish. I believe in what I’ve created and what I wanted people to see, but to see how the show resonated with them and having them come to me and say, “You know, what you said really changed me” was exciting to experience. It’s not very often that we really get to see how what we do affects other people. I’m still star-struck by everything that has happened. I’m still on cloud-nine about it.
Q: Did the reactions meet or go beyond your expectations?
A: Very much beyond my expectations. The cool thing about being a writer is that you really make the blueprint. It is up to the actor to really take it and make it their own. I was blown away by how they took some words on paper that really don’t mean anything in their form and made into something memorable.
Q: Do you see changes being made now that it’s been premiered with reactions?
A: Not any major changes. There are a few things that after seeing it performed I might tweak, but nothing all that extreme. Another cool thing about being a playwright and composer is that usually shows are workshopped before being performed. There wasn’t a lot of time for workshopping, but getting to see it performed is a good way to assess what works, what doesn’t, any holes in the plot or anything redundant. There are just a few things that I want to see change.
Q: What do you see for the future and “Dollhouse”?
A: In terms of “Dollhouse,” I am going to submit it to a few writing competitions and some scholarship competitions. Just recently I was looking at a submission calling for plays and musicals that were about feminist subjects. I’m going to try to get a few more performances of the show so it gets out there a little more. I’ve started working on other projects, so now I can let “Dollhouse” breathe a little bit.
Q: What would you tell your fellow composers trying to put their work out there?
A: Think big while you have the opportunity here. There are so many resources and people on campus who are willing to work on student-made work. They’re willing to be a part of something else. It’s such an amazing opportunity to be on such a great campus for that. As a composer, it’s important to make friends, connections and take advantages of all the wonderful people that are here.