Last Person, Last Show

Hi again everyone,

Opening night is here and I could not be more excited to show this play to as many people as possible. As a reminder, I directed The Last Person on Earth written by Rachel Stahly. This is my third and final student directing experience at OSU. My first show was The Courier by Carol Mack in last year’s One-Act Festival, and Nightfall with Edgar Allan Poe by Eric Coble for last term’s lab production. There were also a couple Play-in-a-Day’s scattered between those but this show, The Last Person on Earth, holds a special place in my heart because of how much I have learned, the choices I made, the people I got to work with, and the pure desire I feel for the eyes of the world to see it.

I have learned so much this past year with the generous amount of hands-on experience I’ve been given by the OSU Theatre Arts department. This program is truly a hidden gem when it comes to pursuing theatre and I look forward to seeing the plays that future students create on these stages and the stages to come.

I found my personal growth with this production in the choices I was making for the story. All these choices were made with the intention of highlighting key points of the script – points that I would not have been able to highlight without Rachel’s writing choices.

I am so grateful I was given the opportunity to direct this play partly for the reason that it allowed me to work with Rachel. Rachel has been committed to making her play the best that it can be from a writing perspective, and I have been committed to making it the best it can be from a directing perspective. In the beginning of this process, Rachel was willing to listen to feedback from myself and others on her play. This feedback led to her essentially rewriting her script in the first couple weeks of the term and the results were amazing. The play had the same original heart, but it was refined through her dialogue, storytelling, and main points. As the process continued, she was willing to make modifications to her script for the sake of space limitations and she even agreed to write an additional sequence for the introduction while letting me assist on it. Her dedication and passion throughout inspired me further to work as hard as possible to bring this play to life for the stage. I am so grateful to what she put into this show and know that it would not be what it is without her.

It would also not be what it is without the cast. The cast includes:

Alessandra Ferriso ................... Cassie

Matt Holland .......................... Nick

Hannah Schwartz ..................... Robotta

Josh Smith ............................. Danny

Jessica Li ............................... Serena

These individuals worked incredibly hard to make this show what it is today. Alessandra brought Cassie to life who is a smart, goofy, dweeby, funny, gross character that you can’t help but find beautiful. Alessandra’s natural and consistent presentation of this character is skillfully done to say the least, and speaks to her experience as an actor. Matt created an honest and humorous Nick that we all love to watch and listen to. The moments he has are among my favorite in the show and they stemmed from Matt simply being so willing to try new things and respond to the scene around him. Hannah’s Robotta successfully embodies an impossible dichotomy as a human robot with sprinkled quirky moments and movements. Hannah also is effortlessly strong as Robotta which opened up a lot of possibilities for the show. Josh shows up a couple times as Danny and gives us a glimpse to Cassie’s “old” life. He connects with her despite facing the opposite direction and is so entertaining to focus on. Jessica’s growth in this production has been wonderful to see and it was only because of her willingness to trust me and push herself. Her Serena goes from child to adult in 1 page and helps make the impact needed in the end.

Overall, this cast was amazing to work with. They trusted me and pushed themselves over the last month and it will not go unnoticed. This is an incredible show and that is strictly because of all the incredible people that went into making it.

Other people that went into making it are the spectacular crew that will continue working to make this show come to life every night. The sound designers, lighting designers, costume designers, and instructors all helped to create the Spring 2019 One-Act Festival and I am so grateful for their passion and dedication to this art.

I am so thankful for the opportunities I’ve been given within Oregon State University’s Theatre Department during my time here. Specifically, I am thankful to Elizabeth Helman. She is strong, passionate, inspiring, dedicated, and undervalued by this university. The students she teaches love her and respect her. She will continue to change their lives along with future student lives for many years to come.

Thank you cast, crew, professors, friends, and fellow artists. I am so proud of The Last Person on Earth and cannot wait for people to see why. Until then…

Stay tuned for more.

- Lindsey Esch