Student-produced work debuts at Lyric Theatre
Borrowing its namesake from an existing sign on a golf course in Browning, Texas, “Do Not Hit Golf Balls Into Mexico” is the Fusion Theatre Project’s second and latest original production.
The Fusion Theatre Project began in 2005 with its first play, “Scope”, which discussed the war in Iraq. An experimental theater company through the university, the project’s mission is to channel prominent social issues through avante-garde theater.
“We focus on issues that heavily affect American society or that American society in turn affects,” playwright and project founder Shawn Fisher said.
However, chosen topics are not artfully disguised political platforms, but rather explorations of various topics that tend to be viewed from a single perspective.
“We do it very much from an artistic standpoint. We in no way are trying to write something with a message or with a political tilt,” Fisher said.
“Do Not Hit Golf Balls Into Mexico” ventures into the lives of a variety of characters after the discovery in the Sonoran desert of human bones believed to belong to Mexican migrants. The plot centers on a bus driver by the name of Calvin Wesley and his relationship with his daughter and grandson, while also revealing other unexpectedly interwoven relationships. The story travels laterally through time between the present and five years before the discovery of the remains, involving characters directly connected to the discovery as well as their more distantly connected counterparts. Common thematic progression provides an anchor for the discordant structure.
“It has been one of the most exhausting and rewarding roles that I have ever done,” said John Belliston, a senior in theater who plays Calvin. “The character is this bag of pieces that has to keep going because there is no other choice. He’s not terribly sensitive. He feels things really intensely, but he doesn’t know how to express them. This play is kind of where he hits the absolute final wall, where he can’t go any farther.”
Fisher decided on the topic of the play due to its overall recent prominence in the news, his idea alone taking root several years ago. Significant work on the production began two years ago, and last spring a company was assembled. In early preparation of “Do Not Hit Golf Balls Into Mexico,” six members of the Fusion Theatre Project Company, including Fisher and Belliston, took a trip last August through Arizona to the border. There they interviewed a wide variety of subjects in an effort to establish a richer understanding of the United States and Mexico border issue.
“We interviewed Mexican migrants, border patrol, police, clergy, church members, non-governmental, nonprofit organization members. We would literally walk up to people on the street and start interviewing them,” Fisher said.
Through this intensive, first-hand research, characters were cultivated and the script began to form. The script was an ongoing collaboration over several months and was completed as an early draft in February of this year. Changes were made throughout rehearsal to fine-tune moments into conveying the most meaning to audiences. This semester, a class was held for the Fusion Theatre Project in which students meticulously developed the final original work.
“The way the script came about is so different,” said director Adrienne Moore, associate professor of theater. “(Fisher) wrote some of these roles with specific actors in mind, and when the actors are playing these roles, they know where some of the characters came from. When the actors inhabit these characters, they really recognize the origins of these characters.”
Though an overall drama, the production contains a fair share of what Moore refers to as “quirky humor.” She also addressed the recommendation of mature audiences only.
“There’s no sex and there’s no violence. It has what we call ‘situation appropriate language,'” Moore said.
Fisher has taken an individual, humanistic approach on a topic rampant with over-simplification and generalizations.
“This particular topic is actually about people: It’s about their lives, it’s about life and death, it’s about a better life,” Fisher said. “It deals with real people rather than political talking points. Moore feels that such an approach will succeed in captivating a diverse crowd.
“If you live in Utah, you can’t be uninterested in issues to do with immigration. It’s a huge part of the lives of people who live here. I think that it’s something of which everybody has some second-hand experience or anecdotal information. It’s general, pertinent and topical enough that it’s going to be interesting to a wide range of people,” Moore said.
“Do Not Hit Golf Balls Into Mexico” runs April 22-24 and April 29-May 1 at the Caine Lyric Theatre. The production is $13 reserved seating or free for USU students with valid ID. Tickets are available through the CSA Box Office.
– noelle.johansen@aggiemail.usu.edu