“Once the Orchestrion Shatters,” directed by junior Eden Lipham, and written by Frankin and Marshall College ‘23 graduate, Kendall Lipham, premiered Oct. 17-20 at the Conant Performing Arts Center. Rehearsal Room C (RRC), Oglethorpe’s student theatre production company, put on the one-act play.
“Orchestrions are big and beautiful and pretty obsolete, and the idea of one slowly deteriorating served as the primary metaphor on which the story was built,” Kendall said. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, an orchestrion is “a mechanical device provided with different stops capable of imitating a variety of musical instruments.” Kendall said, “In a similar way, the story is about a collection of unique beings that are designed by some higher power to work in harmony at all times. But more importantly, it’s about the consequences of living without identity.”
The show opened with a “worker” named Charles who introduced a high-end collection of robots meant to mimic the perfect family. The first scene reflected just that: a prim and light-hearted dollhouse scene of a family dinner, complete with a laugh track. Kendall said, “In my writing, I was hoping to explore the strain of familial, religious, and gendered expectations, specifically in 1950s America, as well as how the pressure to be perfect is often what keeps us from actualizing and growing.”
That pressure caused the robots to break down after Josephine, one of the daughters, says grace, prompting “workers” to come onstage and wind them back up. Then the same scene took place again, but slightly changed. “The show is about the cyclical nature of family life, especially in the modern Christian home,” Eden said. “[There is] an obsession with the perfect image.” The family dinner repeated again and again with modifications that conveyed the underlying hostilities each member held for the others until the family descended into utter chaos due to their problems never being spoken about. Eden said, “To address it is to acknowledge that something is wrong.”
Kendall said, “The whole purpose was to increase the suspense and tension, creating a kind of uncanny valley effect where it’s almost unbearable to watch the family try to live within the parameters set out for them.” The themes in this play built upon those in their first, “The Reactionary Conscience,” written in 2020 about a family trapped inside their home during a tornado. Claustrophobic settings and the complexities of familial relationships seemed to be a theme in Kendall’s writing.
With only 7 named roles, a single set, and a 45-minute script, the play existed in extremely confined borders by origin. Adding on the limited budget of RRC, those borders were even smaller. But the sibling team was confident that Oglethorpe was the right venue for putting this play on for the very first time—both mentioned the immense trust they had in each other in this creative endeavor.
“Once the Orchestrion Shatters” marked many firsts for the team—it was Eden’s directorial debut and Kendall’s first play to be produced. Eden said, “It's definitely been probably the biggest learning experience I've had here at Oglethorpe and in life in general.” She mentioned that finding a balance between logistics and creativity was a particular challenge, but not insurmountable, especially not with Kendall’s support. Kendall said, “No matter what, I know I'll always be [Eden’s] biggest fan, always."
The support went both ways, though; Kendall said, “Doing this with Eden was the only option, mostly because no one else would’ve read it if she didn’t push me to share it.” Prior to the beginning of the production process, only three people, including Eden, had read the play. “Obviously, growing up together, we had a similar experience with family and religion,” Kendall said of Eden, “and if anyone could understand the perspective I was writing from, it would be someone who was there with me for every moment that informed my writing.” With the personal nature of the play, she mentioned that she felt vulnerable sharing it on a stage. “But Eden assured me that she was passionate about the project and had shared it with other friends who saw a vision for the story as well. This project has really built my confidence as a writer and made me realize I want people to read this.”
Eden echoed this confidence boost but from her and the students’ perspective. She mentioned that, with the comprehensive training that Oglethorpe provides, its actors are prepared to originate roles, and crew members are prepared to create production designs with no prior installments referred to, but many haven’t had the opportunity before “Once the Orchestrion Shatters.” “Working on an original piece, something that's never been done before, and really just getting to explore the text on our own and define what that means to us, has been amazing.”
Kendall hoped to one day publish the play and make it available for other companies to produce. “I like to think anyone could see themselves reflected in the story somewhere,” she said. “Especially because each character has a distinct connection to family, religion, and gender, which are three institutions in America that no one can escape being subject to. I hope audiences can walk away knowing themselves a little bit better after reflecting on which issues they might relate to.”
Eden said, “I'm very proud of everybody that has worked on the show, and I know that a lot of people have been looking to me as the director, being like, ‘well, it's your show, it's your thing,’ but it's not. The moment that designers were selected, the moment that actors were cast, it wasn't mine anymore, it wasn't Kendall’s anymore—it became something that was bigger than us individually.”
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