Just over a year after RWU’s Theatre and Performing Arts majors were cut, nine determined freshmen and one brand-new adjunct professor gathered to present 2024’s debut show: “Tiny Beautiful Things;” an hour-long piece based on an advice column from the early 2000s. On the ground floor, friends, family and acting students filed into the Performing Arts Center (affectionately nicknamed “the Barn”) to the tune of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide;” in the dance studio below, the excited shouts and chatter of the Barn’s newest actors rose.
Theater majors or not, another generation of students was about to take the stage.
By the end of the night, few eyes were dry, many stomachs ached from laughing and the stage was littered with prop letters, but all hearts were undoubtedly full.
Clearly, “Tiny Beautiful Things” was a shrewd choice by Tanya Martin, the debut show’s director, and the Theatre Department’s newest adjunct professor; the play provides ample opportunities for each of her nine student actors to shine.
The concept is simple: a middle-aged writer takes over an advice column, answering letters from readers of a literary magazine. Six of the nine actors play a rotating cast of colorful characters with crises large and small, funny and heart-wrenching; the remaining three share the role of Sugar.
On the surface level, the three-week rehearsal process meant mere days to memorize Sugar’s lengthy monologues, so splitting the part into three lightened the burden. Thanks to some deft direction on Martin’s part, the choice also enriches the performance. The “Sugars” overlap in key places, smoothly transitioning between actors as if the character is passing off speeches to different parts of herself. It allows the audience to witness the complexity of Sugar in a visual way, and makes for a touching moment at the close of the show as Sugar (almost literally) embraces every version of herself.
The script, based on the book of the same name by Cheryl Strayed and adapted by Nia Vardalos (of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” fame) for the stage, is beautifully written. It is a veritable playground for actors, especially the young and eager cast of RWU’s production. “Tiny Beautiful Things” allows the students to cut their teeth on both lighthearted exchanges and devastating laments.
Debut shows from the past few years have included one act plays, dramatic poetry recitations, and reader’s theater; this play marks a shift with its similarity to a full-length production’s emotional arc. Cast and director both deserve massive credit for their adept handling of the piece with so little time to prepare.
Standing in front of a crowd of peers and strangers alike and bearing another’s soul as if it were one’s own always requires courage; to do so less than a month into one’s college career while managing that transition (not to mention the onslaught of courses) and all it entails is an incredible feat. No matter the results, this cast would deserve high praise; that they performed a complex piece with such emotional dexterity and empathy means they deserve the highest.
Bravo, cast of “Tiny Beautiful Things:” happy debut, and we look forward to witnessing your stars grow and shine even brighter over the next four years.
