“God” smashes the fourth wall

"God," a one act play originally by Woody Allen was presented by the Performing Arts Company (PAC) this past week. Traditionally PAC puts on two plays per semester, one traditional and one experimental, "God" was neither of those but a special project that was included in their chosen selections last spring for this year.

Directed by Sean Marciniak, a junior theater major,  "God" aimed to challenge the audience. According to Marciniak, "art always has a message, theater needs a message." The question at hand, do humans have free will and do we exist without it?

In addition to questioning and challenging the audience, this performance got them involved. Cast members acknowledged and involved the audience; several members of the cast making their entrances out of the sea of spectators down to the center of the outdoor amphitheater, where the performance was held.

The play, which begins in Ancient Greece and also references contemporary times, tells the story of a struggling playwright and an out of work actor both trying to make comebacks. The bizarre chain of events are strung together  by always coming back to question, do we really exist?

"God," originally set in New York City, underwent a few creative liberties before debuting on campus; Sardi's, a New York coffee shop, became the Buster Brown Bean Company. " I took liberties with the characters, I wanted this show to be fun," Marciniak said.

The amphitheater, the location which was not chosen by Marciniak, really helped to enhance the show. "It created the atmosphere of the show the that the script supported," he said. The venue  allowed the audience to focus on several dialogues and sets of action that were taking place at once. On more than one occasion the last row of the amphitheater was filled action, these surprises helped to keep the audience's attention throughout.