After wrapping a successful run of Whittier College’s fall play, three theatre majors will go on to showcase their growing talents at a prestigious competition.
Nikki Knupp ’18, Gunner Joachim ’18, and Ruben Sanchez ’18 are nominated to participate in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for Region VIII this February. The festival recognizes and celebrates the finest and most diverse work produced in university and college theater programs.
Their exciting news comes at the close of their successful weekend run of Gaslight, a Victorian-era thriller directed by visiting lecturer Katie Liddicoat. The play is the origin of the term “gaslighting”: manipulating someone into questioning themselves. (Watch psychology professor Christina Scott explain.)
The thriller, which debuted on Broadway in the 1940s, transports audiences to 1800s London to expose a darker side to Victorian tranquility. Knupp starred as Bella, whose psychologically abusive husband, Jack (Sanchez), manipulates her to keep her out of his affairs, until Detective Rough (Joachim) intervenes.
While binge reading 1930s dystopian novels, Liddicoat stumbled across a mention of it and ordered a copy of the play immediately.
“When it arrived, I couldn’t put it down—I just loved it,” she said. “While the play takes place in Victorian times, it was written in the ’30s, and the playwright was very clearly looking back on that earlier era with current events in mind.”
What’s more, “it’s eerily relatable now, as it seems everyone’s using the word ‘gaslight’ lately,” Liddicoat added.
The audience watched the plot twists unfold in Jack and Bella’s living room, all dark red walls and polished wood, rendered with impressive attention to detail. Such touches that helped transform the black box theatre into an immersive experience of Victorian England, including period-accurate costumes and dialects. As testament to the cast and crew’s skill, the first two nights sold out every seat at the Ruth B. Shannon Center for the Performing Arts’ Studio Theatre.
Looking toward the festival, Knupp, Gunner, and Sanchez are invited to bring a series of scenes and monologues to compete against undergraduate and graduate students from Hawaii, Guam, California, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona in the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship competition. Students who succeed have the opportunity to perform at the national competition in Washington, D.C.
Beyond the awards, the event serves as an opportunity for the aspiring actors to learn more about their craft from peers and professors in a wide range of workshops.
Whittier College students attend every year. Last year, Jocelyn Lopez ‘17 took home the top award for arts administration.
This year’s Region VIII festival will be held in Arizona, February 13-17. Gil Gonzalez, professor of acting and directing, chairs the festival.
Priscilla Lam '18 contributed to this news story.
