Brennan AngelFor two weekends in a row, the Cal Poly theatre department is putting on “Round Heads and Pointed Heads” in Spanos Theatre. The opening is tonight at 8.
The cast of the musical play consists of 11 people, with some playing up to five characters.
The author, Bertolt Brecht, is famous for adding a lot of excess to his plays, theatre alum Tanner Agron.
The play is about the rise of fascism in Nazi Germany, theatre senior Ryan Cordero said. With such a heavy topic, it is surprisingly light.
Brecht was mentioned often in the conversations with the actors. The postmodern writer creates roles in his plays that are unrealistic.
The translator of the play will be flying out from Oxford to see it, Agron said. “It’s not pressure at all,” she laughed.
This type of theatre tries to make it obvious to the audience that they are watching a play, Cordero said. “There is a wall broken down in this kind of show.”
The 11 cast members have numerous parts they play in the show. “There has to be different vocal and physical choices for each part,” Cordero said.
One of the strangest aspects of the play is that the playwright wrote no sheet music for the songs. It is a musical with no sheet music, Cordero said. “He (Brecht) leaves it to the director to write the music. We hired a professor from Cuesta to help us,” he said.
The cast bonded throughout the rehearsal process. “There are a few newcomers who haven’t worked on the Cal Poly stage so it was nice to make a great bond with them,” Cordero said.
The plays cast and crew said there are many resasons why students should see the play.
“This play is so different from what people are used to,” Cordero said. “It expands your cultural knowledge just by sitting down and watching it.”
“The Cal Poly production of the show is interesting and current politically,” Agron said. “It’s a different kind of theatre.”
The play took a lot of work to get moving, Agron said. “We were presented with these lengthy and wordy songs that had to have music written for them.”
“We don’t know how many people to expect,” Cordero said. “All I know is that I’m proud of the work I’ve done and I think everybody else is too.”
“Round Heads and Pointed Heads” will run tonight through Saturday, and from March 8 to 10. A matinee will show March 10 at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $10 to $12 and can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center box office or by calling 756-2787.