This video promo was produced by Scarlett Riley and India-Rayne-Toyer for Mr. Damien Lahey's Movie Madness class.
This Friday, the ASFA Theatre Arts department is bringing a never-before-seen production to the stage of the Dorothy Jemison Day Theater with their world premiere of Michael McKeever’s Hashtag Selfie TikTok Zoom.
The play is a dark comedy, cutting through topics of social media and the surreal landscape the world has become in its presence: one where reality is obscured and clicks and views are valued above all else, even the truth.
“[The play’s themes] venture a lot into people our age and how we interact with social media… at the end we discover how it’s actually affecting us,” says Theatre Arts sophomore Jack Fokkens.
Jack is the sound designer for Hashtag, producing all the sounds for each transition and scene in the show, and according to him, the true meaning of the piece could be hidden behind a hearty mixture of laughs and feels.
“It’s a lot like old comedy theater, it starts off really hilarious, then for one second it snaps and changes,” he tells The Star, a comparison that takes us back to Ancient Greek performances where satire and comedic effect were used to encapsulate bits of political and philosophical commentary, as well as worldly criticisms.
On that note, it appears the world premiere status of this play has had a fairly substantial impact on the development of the show and those involved with its production.
“The playwright’s in the room with with us … he’s watching it for the first time,” says Jack when asked about some of the challenges that came with the creating a debut performance.
It seems the entire process of putting together a show is changed when the focus shifts from a singular script to the particular vision of the playwright themselves, someone who is also experiencing their work come to life for the very first time. It is something that requires a certain level of on-the-fly ability and rigor from everyone working on the project.
As usual, there will be weekend performances after Friday’s FOCUS day, with a 7 p.m. showtime on Friday and Saturday nights, as well as a final 2:30 p.m. matinee performance on Sunday.
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