For Hub City Times

MARSHFIELD – From March 12-17, Lindsay Kujawa-Barr, with the organization Theatre Ruminate, joined Marshfield High School (MHS) students involved in the spring musical “Anything Goes” for an Artist in Residence program.

Kujawa-Barr, a professional from Seattle who worked with the Intiman Theatre – a non-profit theatre that promotes social justice productions and programming – educates students on the significance of dramaturgy, ensemble work, character development, and knowing one’s character. Through theatre activities, script analysis, understanding movement, and character analysis, Lindsay helps students understand their character.

“My favorite part of the week was working one-on-one with Lindsey,” recalls Bailey Cichon, a MHS senior. “My character, Hope Harcourt, goes through a lot of changes in emotion throughout the production. Working with Lindsey helped me to identify my objective in scenes that I was struggling with and clear up the motivation behind some of my more confusing lines. I really enjoyed diving deeper into my character; I feel like I’ve really found my inner Hope over the past few days.”

Brandon Koran, also a senior, talked about what he liked most about the Artist in Residence program.

“I have been in theater for most of my life and this was a game changer for me,” Koran said. “I enjoyed the one-on-one sessions with her. I worked with Lindsey one-on-one twice this past week, and she changed how I viewed my character. In the past I would make up little things about my character’s life but it was nothing serious and mostly as a joke. This year, however, Lindsey taught me to take it seriously, and I was able to create a vibrant backstory and an explanation (on) how my character got to where he is.”

“For my character, the ship’s purser, it was a struggle to find the motivation and purpose for why I was supposed to be there,” Senior Hunter Karau said about working with Lindsay. “Creating the character instead of playing the character has two different meanings.  The importance of understanding the scenes and the entire show creates the entertainment we want to portray for the audience.”

The program was partially funded by a grant from the Marshfield Area Community Foundation, through the Greg and Sally Rindfleisch Performing Arts Fund.

“Anything Goes” will hit the stage in the MHS Auditorium, April 12-14. Shows are at 7:30 p.m.