‘Moonchildren’ takes stage at Woodstock Playhouse
Travel back to 1965 with a group of college seniors as they try to traverse a turbulent, uncertain world in “Moonchildren” at the Woodstock Playhouse this weekend.
The 1970 play, set in an off-campus apartment somewhere in Western New York, offers themes which are very pertinent to today, said Artistic Director Randy Conti.
“The issues college students faced in the 1960s are the same issues they face today,” Conti said. “They struggle to make choices in life, dealing with things going on in society and things going on politically.
“It’s important to recognize the struggles our youth go into entering into adult society.”
And sometimes it’s easier to examine today’s issues by looking back to the past, Conti added.
“It’s easier to wrap our hands around,” Conti said.
Conti said he was introduced to the play 30 years ago, and he found it fit the Playhouse’s mission of offering theater to serve all segments of the community.
Coming off a several weeks-long run of the family-friendly “Mary Poppins,” this production with its adult issues and frequent strong language is geared more towards mature audiences.
Lily Ganser, of Manhattan, plays Ruth, one of the characters who live in the apartment.
Sitting on a couch on the stage after rehearsing a couple of scenes, Ganser described Ruth as being a very strong and opinionated.
“When something is unfair, she calls it like it is,” Ganser said.
She serves as a “grounded, rooted” person who contrasts with some of the more impulsive or hotheaded characters in the play.
She even provides a bit of a maternal presence, Ganser added.
Ganser, a college student herself at Carnegie-Mellon University, said that she can relate to Ruth.
“I understand her complaints—complaints about professors and issues with the society she lives in,” Ganser said.
A self-professed history lover, Ganser said she dug right into researching the 1960s and learning more about how people were thinking then.
“I know about the Civil Rights Act, less about the Vietnam War,” Ganser said. “There was an incredible amount of homophobia.”
The 1960s represented one of the earliest times that people came together to bring about social change through political means, she added.
Television allowed mass audiences to see issues like police violence up close and personal, Ganser said.
A more recent setting makes for less of a language barrier, Ganser said.
“My character curses, I do,” Ganser said.
“Moonchildren” is set during the second wave of feminism, and she said she tries to make that fact play into her character.
“Women were not happy being housewives,” Ganser said, adding about two characters, “Shelly and Kathy are not wanting to get married.”
This contrasts with Ruth, who’d still like to get married, she added.
“It’s an interesting time to research and develop a character,” Ganser said.
And she said she’s enjoyed spending the summer in Woodstock.
It’s been very fulfilling to be near trees and nature during a summer in Woodstock that has also included playing Mary Poppins, Ganser said.
Patrick Mobley, a South Carolina native and student at Elon University in North Carolina, plays Ruth’s sarcastic and funny boyfriend and apartment mate Mike.
“He’s one of the more brainy ones, but doesn’t show it,” Mobley said. “He puts on this facade.
“He thinks a lot of himself.”
As for Mike’s relationship with Ruth, Mobley called it one of the more stable relationships in the apartment.
Mobley said that like Mike, he’s very extroverted, but he admitted his character is often more willing to just say things.
“There are scenes that are bit more challenging, needing to justify what’s been said,” Mobley said. “Finding reason for my character to speak is difficult.
“A lot of this is because I have to create a new energy I don’t typically have.”
Unlike Ganser, Mobley said he is not much of a history buff.
“I studied it in school, and I recalled it from my freshman history class, but I can’t say I was interested in the 1960s,” Mobley said.
But he added that this play offers a fresh perspective on what’s going on with college students today.
“How they did it, how we did it and compare them to us,” Mobley said.
Quentin Arujo, of Virginia Beach, plays Melvin, who always goes by his nickname, “Cootie.”
Like Mike, “Cootie” is also very smart, but chooses to hide his brainy side.
“‘Cootie’ is very, very sarcastic, smart aleck and can get under people’s skin,” Arujo said.
This includes messing around with his apartment mates Kathy and Bob.
“Sometimes it’s too much,” Arujo said.
He studies psychology and he’s pretty good at it, Arujo said.
A strong activist, he goes to marches and does what he can, Arujo said.
“He’s willing to step onto the front lines,” Arujo said.
Arujo said he’s always had an interest in history but he didn’t necessarily know a lot about the 1960s before doing this production.
“It sparked my interest,” Arujo said.
Along the way he also found many themes that can be translated to today.
“The political separation we have in this specific generation, the generations are generally very separate,” Arujo said.
Like today there was a lot of tension between citizens and the police, Arujo said.
“They joke about how cops are repressive, a problem we still have today,” Arujo said.
Kyle Johnson plays Bob, a character who faces many internal struggles along with his mother falling ill and relationship issues.
This pressure makes him feel a sense of insignificance, Johnson said.
He tries to hold these tensions inside, but eventually they explode, Johnson said.
He admitted history was never his biggest thing, but he added that he still learned a lot from this play.
And he believes audiences will relate to Bob’s frustration that he can’t exert more change in society.
Often residing under the table is Shelly, played by Victoria Madden.
“Shelly is a very extroverted character, different than any I played before,” Madden said. “She’s very lively, very comfortable in her body, on the ground, physical.”
She’s often seen as being uninterested in things, but she’s right out there bringing energy to protests, Madden said.
Not afraid to meet strangers, Shelly just invites herself into the apartment, Madden said.
“She doesn’t even know these people,” Madden said.
But as the play wears on she consistently brings a sense of energy whenever she’s around. Madden added.
“I have to rehearse to the character even if I’m not 100 percent all the time,” Madden said. “It’s interesting to step into that.”