Last week, “The Four Horsemen Present: The Apocalypse” made its debut on Trinity’s main stage. Four students, Jayden Perez, Audrey Pettigrew, Steven Spill and Kunsh Tyagi wrote and performed the show, exploring topics like identity and self-discovery with a comedic twist.
In homage to plays like “Waiting for Godot,” “The Apocalypse” play is set in a void filled with random objects — a steel tree, a piano and a turntable. The four characters find themselves in a state of confusion, unable to recall who or where they are. The only thing they remember is their archetypal roles: comedian, musician, scientist and poet. Audrey Pettigrew, first-year theater major who played the comedian, highlighted that the play’s surreal nature is intentional, aiming to challenge audiences to engage with the material on a deeper, more critical level.
“The show requires a lot of thought,” Pettigrew said. “The dramaturgy is very sound, but because of that, it takes a couple of watches to figure out what’s going on and also to see how each character’s arc is related to each other.”
Though the play has more serious themes, it is also meant to make audiences laugh. Steven Spill, senior history major who played the scientist, said that the writers were not aiming to create something too heavy or serious. Above all, he hopes audience members enjoy the play and have fun as they watch.
“We’re trying not to be pretentious. So, in general, it’s okay to laugh,” Spill said. “We try to put in a ton of humor. In fact, we were talking about it, and I think the main genre is just comedy. There’s a lot of, I want to say, goofy humor mixed in with some serious moments.”
The play is a solo and devised performance opportunity organized by Rachel Joseph, associate professor of theater and director of “The Apocalypse.” Each of the students applied for the project last semester and began producing the play as soon as the spring semester began. This meant they had only a few weeks to write and rehearse before opening night. Jayden Perez, first-year music composition major who played the musician, said that despite the time constraints, the experience was enjoyable and well worth the effort.
“Honestly, it kind of flew by,” Perez said. “It’s just the four of us and this small backstage crew that are working hard, and they’re great. Even though it’s already tonight, I feel like we did it. I mean, we all did it efficiently and happily. I think we did great.”
In addition to guidance from Joseph, the students received support from other theater faculty members. Nicholes Hernandez served as the technical director, Carlos R. Nine designed the lighting and Kellie Grengs designed the costumes. Pettigrew emphasized that each person played an essential role in bringing the student’s creative vision to life.
“If I could just give an enormous thank you to every single person involved in this process,” Pettigrew said. “[They] have been working side by side at every step of the process, fulfilling our every whim and taking care of us. They’ve been so patient and brilliant, and I can’t thank them enough.”
Despite having faculty guidance, the play was left entirely up to the creative discretion of the students, many of whom were strangers or acquaintances prior to working together. This led to additional opportunities for collaboration in the creative process, where the students got to build on one another’s ideas. Spill said that this process resulted in a piece that blends elements of everyone’s contributions but still has parts that are unique to each member’s vision.
“Well, it’s a delicate balance, because a primary thing to be concerned with is not stepping on people’s toes too much. Basically, through this play, we each worked on our own parts of it, and then when necessary, we altered to make them fit together better,” Spill said. “We only edited after the fact together. Everything’s worked together, and I like to think it actually works, but that’s where an audience decides.”
*Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Carlos R. Nine was the technical director. Nine is the lighting designer and Nicholes Hernandez is the technical director.
