How do you take a bunch of college-aged kids, put them in what is essentially a blank (albeit black) canvas of a room and ask them to act like the people they never were and never necessarily could be? Ask Communication senior Marek Ranbom, the show's director, and he'll tell you it's all in the details.
James Dean was already in his mid-20s when he started filming Rebel Without a Cause, the source material for WAVE Productions new play of the same name. He may have been a bit old for the role, but his depiction of Jim Stark has become one of the most renowned performances in cinematic history.
Taking Rebel Without a Cause to the stage, however, was no easy feat. As part of the new "studio slot" production category in WAVE, the play is a small scale, tight-knit operation. "We have no curtains," said Ranbom. "You can see people crossing, you can see the furniture."
The play takes place in Shanley Pavilion, a theater space on campus that is known for being tiny, cramped and easily manipulated. Shows put on in Shanley come in all shapes, sizes and organizations. Rebel Without a Cause is almost like theater in the round. There are seats set up all around the "stage" and actors move freely through the space, coming within inches of the audience during some of the most pivotal and dramatic scenes.
Following the story of Jim and his disenfranchisement with his parents and his suburban life, the stage production (and the movie) tells of the kinds of trouble high school teenagers can get mixed up in within the pursuit of, as the title suggests, rebellion with no cause. There are fights and competitions sprinkled throughout the story, and not all characters achieve a happy ending.
But what brought this cast together to create the show that will premiere this week is the common thread of high school experience and ideals set forth for the future. In discussion with his cast, Ranbom considered questions like "What kind of parents do we want to be?" furthering the definition of parenthood to include peers – as is the case with the character of Jim (Communication sophomore Brannon Bowers) and his troubled friend Plato (Communication sophomore Kyle Sherman).
Because the show works on a minimalist scale – with a few set pieces used throughout and most of its setting relying on the imagination – it allows the actors and the audience to create a space to examine the psychological ramifications of living in a world that is at times unsatisfying. At the heart of Jim and Plato's plight, as well as other characters like Jim's parents (played by Communication senior Jacob Devine and sophomore Rachel Meloan) and Jim's love interest Judy (Communication sophomore Alison Mahoney), is the desire to feel interconnected and thus whole.
At the end of the play, the lights dim on some of the protagonists (whose names will be omitted to avoid spoiling the plot) in an embrace. While the main crux of the show centers around its characters trying to make up for their insecurities by creating rebellious personas, by the end they have a new purpose – it may not be entirely clear, but what is clear is that they rely on one another.
Just as WAVE's Rebel Without a Cause relies on a few key players to create what is a full-fledged, fully-developed play.
The experience of seeing Rebel Without a Cause on stage is not like seeing it on a screen, and through its unassuming set and its theatrical portrayals of emotional scenes and characters, it sets itself apart from a simple retelling. "We are trying to do a lot with a little," Ranbom said. And the finished product seems to have achieved that goal exactly.
Rebel Without a Cause will run for five performances from Thursday, Jan. 17 to Saturday, Jan. 19 at Shanley Pavilion. Tickets are $10 for the general public and $5 for Northwestern students.