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| Megan Pecot, Jan Rosenberg, Brennan Martignoni |
The journey for Never Have I Ever from concept to a staged reading in New York has been over a year long. Brennan Martignoni and I have had the pleasure of working on it from the start. In the spring semester of 2017, I joined a group of other BSC students in the library to meet Jan Rosenberg, the playwright, for the first time over FaceTime. She asked questions about our experiences in college in regards to body image, addictions, fears, and eating disorders. We all walked away excited to know what the script would look like in just a few short months. Although I had the intent to be involved, I had no idea how very involved I would be with this show and collaboration with The Farm Theatre. In April, I was approached to be the director of this new play the following Jan Term. This would mean a trip to New York that summer to be a part of the table read of an early draft of the script. Brennan would be joining as lighting designer of our production, as well as Professors Alan Litsey and Matt Mielke. I couldn't believe I would have the chance to direct a new work.
June came around and BSC supported the trip for the four of us to stay in New York. Over 3 days we took part in table reads and discussions of the new play named Never Have I Ever. These meetings were run by the director of the Farm Theatre, Padraic Lillis and included students from West Chester, the other college involved, Jan, and New York actors to read for the characters. We listened and chatted about each scene, analyzing characters and scene structure. By the end of the process, Jan had rewritten dialogue, scenes had been moved around, and a character had been removed. We came home and eagerly anticipated getting the new draft.
In November, the draft of the Never Have I Ever that we would be producing was sent to us and our company was created. January rolled around and over a month we put on the show in our black box theatre. It was an incredible experience. Not often do you get the chance to direct a completely new play in college!
In March of 2018, The Farm Theatre contacted us again, inviting myself and Brennan back up to New York to take part in the staged reading of the final draft of Never Have I Ever. I had known there would be a staged reading, but I was ecstatic to learn I would get to finish out my journey with the show in New York again. I would serve as Assistant Director and Brennan as Design Consultant. Once again, we were grateful for Birmingham-Southern’s support in helping to fund the trip. Without their help, I'm not sure I would have been able to afford the trip. June 2-5th we took part in 2 days of rehearsals and then the final staged reading performance. The rehearsals consisted of a table reading and then work-throughs in the rehearsal space. I was able to give some direction in these rehearsals. It was valuable to see how the staged reading process goes in New York! After the performance, we took part in a talkback with the audience. They asked about the research behind the play, how the colleges handled certain aspects of their productions, and how other audiences had received it. Overall, the audience was very receptive to the material and said they had learned a lot. I know that I have gained very valuable information about eating disorders and addictive behavior over the course of working on this play. I can't wait to see where the script goes because I know it will have a positive impact on whoever experiences it.
Brennan and I are so grateful to The Farm Theatre and Birmingham-Southern for the opportunity to work on a brand new play. We hope the collaboration will continue for future students as it was an invaluable experience that we will be able to use going forward into the world.
- Megan Pecot and Brennan Martignoni
