Last Saturday night an audience composed of all ages enjoyed the creativity and talent presented by the comedic drama, “7 Shards of Glass,” a one- time only, 24 hour play festival in honor of the Tennessee Williams festival.

The play was held in the Vonnie Borden Theatre and hosted by Alpha Psi Omega, the National Honorary Theatre Society. The “7 Shards of Glass” performance is a creatively twisted, comedic depiction of the Tennessee Williams play, “The Glass Menagerie.” Six different playwrights and one choreographer were brought in from around the country and given 24 hours to develop their scenes and construct the entire play.

“We want to enhance Hammond’s artistic community in a way that hopefully creates more artistic events geared toward our huge college community,” said Jim Winter, assistant professor of Fine and Performing Arts. “‘7 Shards’ combines the talents of artists from every area: theater, visual arts, music, dance and creative writing in a unique form of entertainment.”

The story focuses on three main characters: Amanda, the whorish mother; Laura, the crippled daughter and Tom, the corrupted son. There is a continual conflict between Tom and Amanda over Laura’s future. Amanda decides that Laura needs a suitor to marry and support her after she dropped out of business school while Tom insists that Laura is different and needs to be left alone.

The title, “7 Shards of Glass,” represents the seven separate performances based on “The Glass Menagerie,” which is made of seven scenes. The playwrights and choreographer were given their scene 48 hours before show time. However, they were only given 24 hours to work with the cast and crew.

“You get here ridiculously early to get your script and find out who your actors are. Basically, we get together and figure out what we want to do,” said Paul Shinn, director of Shard 1 and Southeastern alumnus. “I like how many people have to collaborate to do this. We have a small army in there all coming together to make one thing.”

Several of the actors explained how the 24 hour play was intense and different from any of their previous theater experiences.

“It was really different,” said Melissa Adcock, the freshman English education major who played Laura in Shard 5. “I’ve done a lot of different types of performances, but I’ve never really done anything that had to be done in such a short amount of time, so it was kind of crazy. But having that amount of dedication, just going into it for hours and hours, you really see the pay off. It was a really enjoyable and fun experience.”

While the production was presented as being unique, some of the guests were initially confused by the replacement of the actors during the scene changes.

“I really enjoyed it. It was hilarious. My favorite was the opening, the way they started into it,” said Taylor Michel, a freshman art major. “He [Tom] was like here’s my sister the cripple and my mother the whore. I was confused when they first switched scenes, but to realize that it was the same family mentality, it was pretty cool.”

While the play generated a lot of positive reactions, several of the attendants commented on the overuse of vulgarity.

“Excellent, all the artistic and all the value and everything was there,” said Grier Truluck, father of Katy Truluck who played Amanda in Shard 7. “Sometimes you have to be very careful how you use vulgarity. When vulgarity is placed just for the shock effect, it loses some things. It was the only weak part of the whole show.”

Throughout the production, especially during the scene changes, a three piece band, assembled by Southeastern alumnus Drew Zeringue, played behind the backdrop.

The play came to a close with Shard 7, entitled “Chasing Dreams,” which consisted entirely of an interpretive dance choreographed by Crystal Schayot, a senior general studies major with an art concentration.

“I thought it was very interesting and different. I’ve never seen a play like that and as blunt as that,” said Lindsey Giammerse, a freshman nursing major. “My favorite part was the dancing at the end. I really like how they incorporated that.”

One of the goals of the “7 Shards of Glass” production was to raise money for the excavation and restoration of the Rose Theatre in London, which is the oldest theater in Bandside, London, where Shakespeare’s famous Globe Theatre was.

For more information on Alpha Psi Omega, visit the national website at www.alphapsiomega.org or contact Winter at james.winter@selu.edu.