November 17, 2021
Friends and colleagues on-stage and off
Theatre connections are long-lasting.
Just ask Merry Renn Vaughan, associate professor and director of theatre at St. Scholastica. On Nov. 12, she opened The Octette Bridge Club at the University of Wisconsin-Superior鈥檚 Manion Theatre. The cast is a mix of actors: some she has known since she was a teenager, some who are former colleagues, some she has directed before and others she met for the first time a few months ago. All of them are UWS alumni, including Vaughan.
And the crew? Also alumni. All from St. Scholastica. All involved because, when she sent out a test message looking for help, they responded, 鈥渨e鈥檙e in!鈥�
She calls it a 鈥渕y alma mater meets my current school鈥� type of production; one big, beautiful collaboration of like-minded folks, all connected in their eagerness to return to the theatre after a long, pandemic-related hiatus.
An announcement…and a request
The show itself has been a long time coming. Three years ago, Cathy Fank, Vaughan鈥檚 counterpart at UWS had an announcement and a request: she was making plans to retire and she wanted Vaughan to direct her in a show beforehand. She also wanted Julie Ahasay to be in the cast with her, a connection that dates back to Vaughan鈥檚 childhood.
鈥淲hen I was 12 or 13, my parents realized I was definitely going to do theatre for the rest of my life,鈥� recalled Vaughan. 鈥淭hey bought season tickets to the Duluth Playhouse and Julie was in Blithe Spirit, one of the first shows I ever saw.鈥�
And she left an impression.
鈥淎ll through high school, Duluth Playhouse was Julie Ahasay and Roger Morris,鈥� Vaughan said. 鈥淔or me, they were iconic.鈥�
Vaughan and Ahasay would later work together at St. Scholastica, yet despite their history, the two had never done a show together. Ahasay was in and helped Vaughan and Fank land on a script, a quirky comedy about eight Irish Catholic sisters who play bridge every other Friday. The pieces were beginning to fall into place before the pandemic disrupted their momentum and postponed the show until summer 2021. Finally, Vaughan was ready to pick up where she had left off: finding the rest of the cast.
鈥淪ister connection鈥�
She acknowledges that casting was done in an unconventional way.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 have auditions, but Cathy had a list of women she wanted to work with,鈥� said Vaughan. 鈥淭hen it was a matter of me going through that list, approaching people, finding out where they would all fit.鈥�
Once she had a cast of nine people who were committed to doing the show, she needed to identify roles. 鈥淗ow do I figure out, from what I know about these women, which sister fits them the best?鈥� she asked herself.
But somehow, it worked out. Shockingly well, Vaughan described. The actors knew the direction they wanted to go in with their characters which meant no missteps along the way. And while Vaughan had never had them all in a room together until the show鈥檚 first read-through, their 鈥渟ister connection鈥� was undeniable.
鈥淭he only way these characters live off the page is if you allow them to,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd we鈥檙e at the point where the actors are starting to disappear from me and I鈥檓 starting to see the sisters. They鈥檙e giving life to these characters.鈥�
Scott Minor Smith, another former St. Scholastica colleague and UWS graduate, is also in the production.
鈥淪cott plays a journalist who comes in to take their picture, and through his questions, that鈥檚 how the exposition happens. It鈥檚 how we meet all the sisters. He anchors that for the audience, delights in their relationship and sets the tone for the audience to like their quirkiness, too.鈥�
Even though his part is limited to less than ten pages, Vaughan said, his role is integral to the accessibility of the story.
Bridging the past and present
As Vaughan prepares for the show鈥檚 final run this weekend, she is hopeful that the experience has been a meaningful one for Fank and the rest of the cast and crew. It鈥檚 given her a dose of nostalgia, too.
鈥淭o go back to the Manion again is like putting on an old comfy pair of shoes,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I鈥檝e also become acutely aware of the passage of time and the people who are no longer with us. Two of my mentors that I was very close to have passed on, yet their presence is still very much in that space.鈥�
You can鈥檛 help but feel it, she said.
鈥淭he connection to that legacy, to have grown up in that space with these people and then to have my students there, doing the things I used to do there, it鈥檚 been really special to me.鈥�
The cast and crew
The cast features Julie Ahasay, Cathy Fank, Kirsten Hambleton, Kathy Laakso, Liz Gray Larson, Victoria Main, Tanya Moore, Sara Marie Briggs Sorenson, and Scott Minor Smith. Assistant directors are Cassidy Duray 鈥�21, Mitchell Gertken 鈥�20, Dawson Ness 鈥�20, Natasha Wagner 鈥�20 and Richard Scrivner 鈥�20. Ethan Skare is assistant stage manager.
