By Jen Shepherd | Contributor
BECCA: Is that something you believe in? JASON: Parallel universes? BECCA: Yeah. JASON: Sure. I mean, if space is infinite, which is what most scientists think, then yeah, there have to be parallel universes.
"Rabbit Hole" Act II, Scene 3
I'd like to believe there is a parallel universe out there where Taylor students and faculty don't shy away from the unknown and uncomfortable, but rather desire to expand their artistic palates and digest the hard topics of this broken and dysfunctional world. I would like to believe there is a parallel universe where selling messy, doubt-filled, spiritually and emotionally draining conversations for only the price of a theater ticket isn't taken for granted.Taylor University Theatre closed its main stage production of "Rabbit Hole" at the end of February. The characters in this show were some of the most relatable and realistic I have ever seen portrayed onstage. Did you weep with Becca? Did you get angry with Howie? Did you laugh with Izzy? Did you feel pity for Nat? Did you empathize with Jason?
Did you grieve? I did.
Over its two-weekend performance run, I saw "Rabbit Hole" three times, and I was disappointed-not by the performances, but by the lack of student presence and the reasons given for not attending the Pulitzer Prize-winning play.
I heard many say, "I don't know what the play is about," "That sounds sad and hard," and, my all-time favorite, "I don't have money to spend on that" (as they sip their venti whatever). I get it-coffee is my lifeblood-but we are better than this, people.
On one Friday performance, there were only 79 in the audience. The next Saturday, they hit a record high of 150. The theatre seats over 300 people, and past productions have averaged 165 per performance.
As a student at a liberal arts university, I find our lack of support for the arts unsettling.
I understand that the weekend was packed, but I appreciated the opportunity to attend both "Rabbit Hole" and the National Student Leadership Conference. Both served as spiritual and intellectual explorations of grief.
My awareness of the tomblike state of grief was deepened by J.R. Briggs's and Mandy Smith's message on failure at the conference and Becca's vulnerability onstage. The weekend was uncomfortable, tear-filled and at some moments ironic. Theater illuminates the human experience. The brilliance of theater allows us to recognize the darkness in which we are entombed and find the light.
So whether parallel universes exist or not, I would like to challenge this version of us, the Christian liberal arts students, to wrestle with the hard but important questions posed by student artwork and to introduce ourselves to the unknown, untouched and uncomfortable.
