JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — Mark Sasse’s mind began churning with ideas when he encountered the artwork “Decadal” at a Weeks Gallery exhibition last fall at SUNY Jamestown Community College.
“When I saw that piece, I thought, ‘That’s such an interesting piece,’” Sasse said. “It’s 10 rows of 10 wine glasses that are slightly deformed and a little more deformed with each photograph. I saw humanity in it. There’s a human story in that piece. I thought it would be a really fun piece to get together with students and try to figure out what that story is and tell it.”
bottom row, from left: Summer and Jones and Lucy
Haskell. Middle: Cinithia Sanchez and Sunhi Suber.
Top: Caden Frost.
And so, led by Sasse, JCC’s arts program administrator, “Decadal: The Descent from Glory,” is set to hit the Scharmann Theatre stage at 7 p.m. Oct. 4 and 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Oct. 5 on the Jamestown Campus.
“We call it a devised theater tale,” Sasse said. “Devised theater is where you don’t start with the script; you start with an idea or prompt and the actors come up with a story. We have been collaborating, brainstorming, doing different theater exercises.”
Sasse is excited for what’s to come. Preparation and development of the story started “at ground zero” with five JCC Uncommoner student actors in early September. The cast includes Sunnhi Suber, Cinthia Sanchez, Caden Frost, Lucy Haskell, and Summer Jones.
Sasse has worked before with students in a classroom setting developing devised theater tales on a “smaller scale, but this one is probably going to be the longest and the biggest one that I’ve ever done,” he said.
To help bring the show more life, Sasse secured music written by Kerry Livgren, former composer, keyboardist and guitarist for the classic rock band Kansas, who wrote notable tunes “Carry on Wayward Son” and “Dust in the Wind.”
The songs that are planned for “Decadal” – “Things We Are Breaking” and “Pilgrim’s Wake” – were written by Livgren for his new band, Proto-Kaw.
“I reached out to him about some of the songs he wrote 10 years ago and asked if we could use two for the show,” Sasse said. “That gives us about 10 minutes of music to work with, which is really helpful. We’re incorporating that into the storytelling, and it’s going to be really interesting I think.”
Audience seating will be on stage.
“We’re creating a very intimate theater experience,” Sasse said. “There’s about 70 seats. The audience will be right on top of the actors.”
Sasse expects David Schnuckel, the artist who created “Decadal,” to be in attendance for one of the shows.
“He’s really excited to come,” Sasse said.
Immediately following the shows, a “talkback” session on stage will allow audience members to talk about their experience with the performance and ask questions.
Tickets, which can be purchased online, are $7 general admission, $6 FSA members and senior citizens, and free for JCC students with an ID.