The 2021-2022 performance season the NIU School of Theatre and Dance opens Friday, October 1 with Kermit Frazier’s, Kernel of Sanity in the Sally Stevens Players Theatre, in the Stevens Building on the NIU main campus.
The production is directed by School of Theatre and Dance alum Alys Dickerson and features a cast of third-year MFA actors.
On his way out to Los Angeles, Roger, a young black actor, stops in a Midwest town to visit Frank, an older white actor that once starred in a production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest where Roger played a bit part. What transpires during this unlikely meeting is a mystery dealing with identity, sanity, and white privilege. Frazier’s play about marginalization was itself marginalized. The 1978 play languished without a professional production for years, only recently claiming its rightful place in the twentieth-century American canon. Its prescience against the backdrop of our ongoing racial reckoning is startling.
Performances:
Friday, October 1, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 2, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 3, 2:00 p.m.
Thursday, October 7, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, October 8, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 9, 2:00 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased online. Kernel of Sanity is part of the Sally Series of productions, and tickets are $7 for those performances. NIU students can attend for free by reserving their ticket in advance.
Cast Profiles
Chris Anthony (Frank Tracy)
Chris is and 3rd year MFA Actor from Indiana, Penn., where he received his BA in Theatre from Indiana Univ. of Pennsylvania. NIU Credits: Bright New Boise, Arturo Ui, Bike America. Regional Philadelphia credits: The Lantern Theatre Co, Ego Po Classics, DieCast, PhillyShakes, Commonwealth Classics, New City Stages, “Bye Bye Liver; The Philly Drinking Play”, High Draama Sketch Comedy. Chris was featured at the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival with DieCast Theatre (The Hairy Ape, Pericles. Menagerie of Angles).
Paige Larkowski (Rita Templeton)
Paige is a third year MFA in acting candidate from Arlington Heights, Ill. She recently performed in Polaroid Stories (NIU) as Eurydice. Paige holds a BFA in acting from Western Michigan University and is a proud member of Teamsters Local 727. She is honored to be part of such a lovely cast and crew.
Jamaque Newberry (Roger Peterson)
Jamaque Newberry hails from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He received his BFA degree in Filmmaking from Western Kentucky University while competing for their world-renowned speech and debate team. While competing he accumulated multiple national awards in dramatic and poetic performance. Before coming to NIU he taught dramatic performance and film techniques for various middle school and high school programs. He is now furthering his love for performance and art at Northern Illinois University as a candidate for an MFA in Acting. At NIU he has had the pleasure of starring in plays such as Time of Your Life and Everybody.
Production Profiles
Alys Dickerson (Director)
This is Alys Dickerson’s directing debut with SOTD, and she is very grateful to have been invited back to direct at her alma mater having graduated in the MFA class of 2016. Alys is currently working in education design at American Players Theatre and in their current production of Cymbeline at the Up Hill Theatre. Previous storytelling and directing credits; Sender by Ike Holter at the Women’s Theatre Alliance in Chicago and The Odd Couple by Neil Simon at University of Kentucky studio season. Grateful for the risk we take by consistently telling stories.
Jon McLawhorn (Assistant Director)
Jon is very excited to assistant direct his second SOTD production, after last spring’s
“Polaroid Stories” by Naomi Iizuka (NIU). Jon is a Theatre Studies major with an emphasis in directing/writing and co-founded, produced, and directed shows in the 24 Hour Festival here at NIU. He may also be recognized from his role as Dockworker/Policeman in Time of Your Life (NIU). He’s also a proud member of the light shop, #LightsOut! Jon is so thankful to all his family and friends who support him, and to Alys and the cast for bringing theatre to life again.
Haley Welch (Stage Manager)
Haley Welch is a Stage Manager from the Chicago Area. She graduated with her BFA from NIU in 2018 and is happy to be back working with the School of Theatre and Dance to make theatre again. Previous credits include stage managing for NIU’s Angels in America, By the Bog of Cats, and Blue Stockings.
Maddie Danhouser (Costume Designer)
Maddie Danhouser (Costume Designer) is a fourth year BFA design and technology candidate at Northern Illinois University. This is their first role in a show as a member of the design team, and they are so excited to see the show come to life on stage. Their previous work at NIU includes Troilus and Cressida, The Time of Your Life, and Hamlet, amongst other shows. They are glad to be able to work with such an amazing production team during their last semester at NIU.
Production List
Alys Dickerson / Director
Jon McLawhorn / Assistant Director
Haley Welch / Stage Manager
Maddie Danhouser / Costume Designer
Alexa Wiljanen / Lighting Designer
Kallen Eckert / Technical Director
Dave Doherty / Properties Coordinator
Rachel Seabaugh / Properties
Ethan Rosing / Production Manager
This production contains language and behaviors that do not reflect the current views of the actors, the production team, or the School of Theatre and Dance as a whole. This vernacular and behavior is a product of dramatization and a reflection of when this play was written. We felt that to censor or change it would be to ignore these biases and behaviors that existed in the world then and the world now.
The NIU School of Theatre and Dance follows the COVID-19 safety protocols of the university. The guidelines are updated as conditions change. At this time, face coverings are required in all indoor university spaces including our theatres. Updated information is available at: niu.edu/protecting-the-pack
