Welcome to anyone who's just arrived.
Kate, why don't we resume the music
and the actors can take their places.
It will be good. Thanks for
your patience as we deal with this technical trouble.
[MUSIC]
How do you, as an instructor,
not be the most important person in the room?
I mean, that's the hardest thing to
get across to some of our faculty.
They're used to being the lecturer on the stage,
lights shining on them,
the star of the room.
When you get into things like portfolios,
your students really are the feature.
It shifts in my mind,
I've always shifted away from
being what I call the lecturer,
an imparter of knowledge, to your manager.
I think what's this person learning?
How can I bring those together?
We are the Hokie.
We will prevail.
We will prevail, we will prevail.
We are Virginia Tech.
On your left. [MUSIC]
Pokie tech, Pokie high. Tech, tech,
VPI Sola-Rex Sola-Rah Polytechs Virgin-i-a rah rah VPI.
Team, team, team.
On your left.
Did you know students who dress
as the HokieBird remain anonymous until
commencement when they reveal their secret by wearing
HokieBird feet during the procession into Lane stadium.
Are you the the HokieBird?
I think that was really
the start of me being super active
in Blacksburg because that paper covered all issues.
We worked on the environment,
we worked on women's rights,
we worked on LGBTQ rights,
world peace, and justice issues.
I owe Virginia Tech.
I mean, I feel truly indebted to
the university for what I
was able to achieve in my career.
Without my Virginia tech education,
I wouldn't have the career.
I wouldn't have the happiness later in my life and I
wouldn't be where I am today if
wasn't for that education.
I think that was really the start of
me being super active in Blacksburg.
[OVERLAPPING] Pokie, pokie high.
Tech, tech VPI sola-rex Polytech Virginia,
Polytechs Virgin-i-a. Do you know how to get to Boris Hall?
[OVERLAPPING]
We are the Hokies.
We will prevail, we will prevail,
we are Virginia Tech.
What is this person learning?
How do you bring those together?
We live in a community where on the whole, our citizens read.
They figure things out for themselves,
they have opinions and they are
willing to share their opinions.
I think our community is as good
as it is because it's a community of
individuals who are willing to
participate and to speak up and to speak out.
That paper covered all the issues.
I love the giant chocolate chip cookies
and pizza at the late night.
Ut prosim, ut prosim,
ut prosim, that I may serve.
Though I'm profoundly grateful and I
attribute every bit of that success more to
my education from Virginia Tech than my efforts
alone and coming back became a very natural thing.
Why would you not? [MUSIC].
On your left. [MUSIC]
The start of me being super active in
Blacksburg because that paper covered all the issues.
[OVERLAPPING]
We are Virginia Tech.
How do you, as an instructor,
not be the most important person in the room?
Do you know how to get to the quad?
They have opinions and they are
willing to share their opinions.
They have good reps and I love it.
We will prevail, we will prevail.
Ut prosim, ut prosim. [OVERLAPPING]
We will prevail.
Students who dress as the HokieBird
remain anonymous until commencement when
they reveal their secret by wearing
HokieBird feet during the procession into Lane stadium.
[OVERLAPPING] Pokie, pokie high.
Tech, tech VPI Sola-Rex Sola-Rah Polytech Virginia.
[MUSIC]
On your left.
We are the Hokies.
Hello and welcome everyone.
My name is Jordan Rosin,
I'll be our conductor for this evening.
Thank you so much for taking time out of
your busy schedules to join us and we
apologize for any technical difficulty
you might have had in getting here tonight.
You've made it and we're glad you're here now.
This is Voices in the Stone,
a Playback Theatre experience.
It'll be audience interactive.
So in a moment,
I'll ask folks to turn on their cameras.
But first I want to just say
thanks to the Virginia Tech History Council,
the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences,
VT Stories, the School of Performing Arts,
University Libraries, for all of
their support in putting together tonight's program.
We are The Ume Group and this is Voices from the Stone.
As far as some technical instructions are concerned,
note that there are
closed captions available for tonight's performance.
You can find those by clicking on
the CC icon at the bottom of
your Zoom panel or in
activating live transcript or subtitles.
You can look for any of those words.
Also, tonight's performance is best viewed in
gallery view rather than speaker mode.
You can usually toggle that in
the upper right-hand corner of your Zoom screen,
there'll be something that says speaker or gallery.
In the gallery view,
you should see me and also we hope you have
non-video participants hidden so that at
this moment you see me and not a
bunch of little black rectangles.
If you're not familiar with that feature,
here's how to use it.
If you do see,
in the gallery view,
other black rectangles with folks names in them,
you can hover your cursor over one of those
and from the three little dots
in the upper right-hand corner,
access a drop-down menu by which
means you can hide non-video participants.
I'll pause for a moment so that you can
make that adjustment if you need.
I'll take any questions if there are
questions about those settings.
If at any point you need help technically,
you can feel free to chat privately to me or
Christina Miller and we should
probably be able to help you out.
The last thing, because it is audience participatory,
that you'll need to know is how to find
your video and microphone controls.
Usually if you're on a desktop computer,
there'll be in the lower left-hand corner.
Why don't we go ahead and begin by
turning on our video and waving hello.
[LAUGHTER] Hello [LAUGHTER].
You've found your video, perfect.
You'll also find your microphone,
unmute yourself and say, hello.
[LAUGHTER]
Hello. [OVERLAPPING] [LAUGHTER]
Hello, and welcome.
I'm so glad you're here.
You can stay on with me if you like,
with your camera on.
In a moment, I'll ask you a couple of questions.
But first I just want to say, what is playback?
Let's have a show of hands.
Who's ever seen a playback theatre performance before?
Anybody? A few in our company.
Yeah, [LAUGHTER] great,
and who is has never seen playback before?
[LAUGHTER].
Catherine, Thomas.
I love it. Well, welcome.
You should be in for a treat.
Playback theater is a form of
community centered storytelling theater where
the audience tells stories which are then reflected
by a company of actors and musicians.
We believe everybody has a story to
tell and that those stories deserve to be heard.
Also, you should know that
today's performance is being recorded and
will be released publicly as
part of Storytelling on Screen,
an online open access
educational resource about Playback Theatre,
which is being published by
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University under a Creative Commons license.
You can learn more about that licensed by clicking
the link that Jorge just dropped in the chat.
In light of the open access nature of this recording,
we encourage folks to monitor
your own participation to make sure you
feel safe and comfortable telling
whatever stories you happen to share.
If you have questions about
this project or need to revoke your consent,
you can feel free to contact me,
Jordan Rosin, at jrosin@vt.edu.
Continue with getting to
know each other a little bit here.
You've found how to turn on and off your cameras.
I'm curious when you all graduated.
How about this, if you graduated in
2020 or before turn your camera on,
that would be everyone unless you are
a current student of which we might have a few.
No? [LAUGHTER] Great.
How about if you graduated before 2000?
If you graduated before
2000 go ahead and keep your camera on?
If you graduated after turn your camera off?
Welcome. How about this,
if you graduated before 1990 keep your camera on?
Welcome. Thomas and Howard,
can I ask what years did you graduate?
I think 1966. [OVERLAPPING]
1966 for Thomas, wow.
No, '69.
Okay, '69 for Thomas and '66 for Howard.
We're honored you can be here.
Thanks everybody.
Great. At this point,
everybody can bring their cameras back on.
Good.
Let's see. [LAUGHTER] Let's
do a couple other questions here.
Raise your hand if you lived on
campus during your time at Virginia Tech?
I don't know whether or not it's
a requirement that everyone does or not.
How about this, raise your hand if you lived off
campus at any point during your time at Virginia Tech?
All right, everybody as well.
[LAUGHTER] I think that's typical college experience.
[LAUGHTER] If you like,
what about dropping the name of your dorm in the chat?
Where did you live when you are
here on campus at Virginia Tech.
[LAUGHTER].
I'll drop mine in because I didn't go Virginia Tech,
but at Syracuse, my dorm was Day Hall.
[LAUGHTER] I see Newman Hall,
Hoge, and Vawter.
The New Yorker, my friend Keelie.
[LAUGHTER] Wonderful.
Well, now that we've gotten to know
each other just a little bit.
Thomas Hall and Major Williams Hall, excellent.
Why don't we introduce
the company, The Ume Group.
All of our audience members
can go ahead and turn your cameras
off and we'll introduce ourselves.
Let's watch.
Hi, everyone. My name is Kaitlyn Samuel Rosin or KSR.
My pronouns are she/her/hers.
I'm calling from Blacksburg, Virginia.
I'm home of the Monacan & Tutelo people
and I went to
University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana.
I'm originally from Los Angeles,
so it was very different and I felt
like a stranger in a strange land.
But I learned to understand and love people
very different than myself and I am so grateful for that.
Hi. My name is Keelie Sheridan.
My pronouns are she/her/hers.
I am calling from Florence, Alabama.
I went to a couple of colleges.
[LAUGHTER], but I went to
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts first in Manhattan.
I had moved from
a very small town to the middle of Manhattan,
and so my college experience
was overwhelming and exciting.
It was really exciting after growing up
somewhere where everybody knew
you and everything about
you to be in a city where you could
be anonymous and be whoever you wanted to be.
[MUSIC]
Hello, my name is Kate.
I use she/her pronouns.
I am calling from London and
I went to New York University.
My time at college was really one of big expansion
and testing out identities and new things to try.
It was really just an experimentation,
a laboratory of myself.
[NOISE]
Hi, everyone. My name is Karina, call me Kazzy.
I use pronouns she/her/hers.
I'm calling from Sydney,
Australia, and I went to college.
I did my bachelor's in Singapore
and then I did my master's in New York.
In my master's program,
I went through two pregnancies and one birth.
[NOISE] It was a lot.
[LAUGHTER].
[NOISE] [LAUGHTER] Hi. My name is Jorge Luna.
I'm originally from Puerto Rico,
and I am in Florence, Alabama right now.
I went to [NOISE] undergrad
at the University of Puerto Rico,
and it took me six years instead of four,
so it was a time
of coming out of a very protective shell.
I was very shy,
so it took me a little while to come out of that shell.
[NOISE]
Hi. My name is Yokko.
I'm tuning in from Brooklyn,
New York. My pronouns is she/he/they.
I'm from Japan and I went
to three bachelor undergraduate.
First one was Tokyo, but way too long time ago.
The college that I really fall in love with,
University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon.
And my college experience is,
coming from Tokyo and busy city,
nature, and it's so much
focusing on study and it was healing.
Excuse me. Look at that flower.
[NOISE] Hi, I'm Jordan Rosin, pronouns he/they.
I'm also calling from Blacksburg, Virginia.
I went to Syracuse University,
upstate New York for my undergrad,
which was super cold
and I felt well-prepared for the world,
but I got chilly doing it.
[LAUGHTER] [NOISE]
Thank you, ensemble.
[APPLAUSE] [LAUGHTER] At this point,
all our audience can bring their cameras back on.
Now that we've told you a little bit about
our college experiences [LAUGHTER]
and our feelings about college,
I'm curious, what would you put in the chat if I asked,
"How do you feel when you hear the word Virginia Tech?
What does that mean to you?"
If you're willing, go ahead and put a couple of words in
the chat about how you feel about Virginia Tech,
maybe your time here.
[LAUGHTER] Lovely.
Already I'm seeing the word home.
[LAUGHTER]
Friendly.
Great place to learn.
Happiness. [LAUGHTER] Wonderful.
If you haven't put something in the chat
and care to, you may still.
But we'll start now with
a Fluid Sculpture based on some of these feelings.
Home, friendly, great place to learn, happiness.
[LAUGHTER] Our audience can go ahead and turn
their cameras off one more time and
we'll turn it over to the actors
for a Fluid Sculpture based on
our collective feelings about Virginia Tech. Let's watch.
[NOISE] [MUSIC] [NOISE]
Whoa. [NOISE] [MUSIC] Whoa
[NOISE]
Yeah.
[NOISE] [MUSIC]
[LAUGHTER] No way. [MUSIC]
[OVERLAPPING] Wow.
No way. [NOISE] [MUSIC].
Whoa. [NOISE] [MUSIC] Whoa.
Thank you, actors and musicians.
[APPLAUSE] [LAUGHTER] At this point,
the audience can bring their cameras back on.
[NOISE] If at any point you
want to show your appreciation,
feel free to clap.
[APPLAUSE] [LAUGHTER] I'm curious
if anyone particularly saw one of
their feelings in that Fluid Sculpture.
Did anyone especially resonate
with something they saw there?
[LAUGHTER] I see Catherine nodding.
Would you mind saying
something about what resonated with you?
Of course.
I [LAUGHTER] actually feel all of them resonated
with some portion of my experience.
I felt that every time I
looked at the mountains and the buildings around,
I was just like, "Whoa,
it's such a great place to be here."
But then I was looking around,
that reminded me of being a freshman and
seeing all of the people walking around,
studios and I was like,
"I don't know what I'm doing here."
[NOISE] Yes.
Wow. Wonderful, Catherine. Thank you.
I'm curious also if there are feelings you had about
Virginia Tech that weren't
represented by this sculpture that we've created.
Do you have other feelings about
your time here that you care to label or talk about?
The end was hard.
The end was difficult.
I graduated in 2020.
That community that Virginia Tech is all about,
was gone at the end.
I joined the theater program really because
I was looking for
that place that I felt I was like, "Okay.
I'm here, this is my version of home."
Because their slogan is, "This is home."
I walked around and I was like,
"I don't know where home is."
I walked into Henderson and I said, "This is it."
Not getting to say goodbye at the end was
very painful in the midst of everything.
Yeah. Wow. Thank you, Catherine.
I think this would be a lovely story to
see in our Three-Part Story form.
If I can recap a little of what it
sounds like you're saying Catherine,
it sounds like when you first arrived,
there were of course these magical feelings,
the mountains being in this place of
learning and that you were
looking for especially this kind
of a home feeling and got it in
the theatre department in
the Henderson Hall with those people.
But that 2020, this global pandemic,
maybe going remote, where we'd remote at that point,
I can't remember. [LAUGHTER]
We were leading up to Pippin.
We had one week of rehearsal for
Pippin and then disaster.
Then disaster.
How do you feel now, Catherine?
I gave myself a lot of space from even thinking about
my feelings about this because there
was a lot that I missed out on.
I come from a big family.
They didn't get to come see me graduate.
I had been to all of their graduations.
They didn't get to see me do that.
They didn't get to see
the theatre department and
everywhere, not just Henderson,
T101 and Blacks-that little section,
that little street of Blacksburg.
It's been a hard thing to process at
the same time of a natural transition.
I think I would be feeling a lot of these things anyway.
I have a little bit more of a resolution.
I'm coming back to Blacksburg next week.
I'm fully vaccinated so I get to do
the ceremony next week.
I was hesitant at first to do that
because I think it was opening up
all of these unresolved feelings
but now I get to come back and say goodbye.
[NOISE]
Thank you, Catherine. Finally here in
this last phase saying goodbye.
Well, as I said, we'll take this as
a Three-Part Story and
everyone can go ahead and turn their cameras off.
We'll hand it over to the actors.
Christina we'll wait until the end of this to
admit our next person here.
This is Catherine's story.
Let's watch.
[MUSIC] [NOISE]
Do I have to say "bye?" But I just...
[NOISE] Okay, bye.
Is anyone out there?
Bye.
Dear diary, I am finally vaccinated,
and I can't wait to share with
you the fact that I will finally,
finally be able to walk and be with my friends.
Even a little bit.
I can't wait.
I can't wait. [MUSIC]
Thank you. Actors and musicians.
[APPLAUSE] At this point,
the audience can bring their cameras back,
and we'll check in with Catherine.
How was that for you Catherine?
I started tearing off at the first vignette.
That was good. Thank you.
That was poignant.
Well, thanks for sharing
your experience with us, Catherine.
We very appreciate it.
Thank you for having me.
We've heard about how
Virginia Tech feels like home, feels friendly,
is a great place to learn,
is a place of happiness and we've felt
some of the pain
and the sadness in The Catherine's story.
I'm curious, what else,
what other stories do you have
to tell about Virginia Tech?
If anyone who'd like to speak,
feel free to just unmute yourself and
jump in or wave a hand and
I'll be sure to call
on you. Yes, Thomas.
Tom is better. Tom is better.
Oh, excuse me Tom, go for it.
I found, because I didn't graduate in theatre,
I was in Arts and Sciences,
but I did discover
the theatre department when it was created.
It was created in the late 60s,
but since you're on campus,
you understand Burruss Hall
and the scale of that building and so forth.
That was the only theater at the time.
Three thousand seats on one floor
but the faculty were housed in
the dressing rooms offstage with
Burruss Hall. That's how this theatre department started.
So long before Henderson than other buildings
that may have been used to grow the faculty,
but I really discovered
some wonderful friends and faculty in
that program and they wouldn't,
they would also use some small theaters off
campus to do productions,
and found places to build sets and
so forth, but, but Burruss Hall
was truly the beginning of
a theatre program for the university.
Wow, and what year did you say that was, Tom?
It was in the 60, I think it was 1968, 69 late 60s.
Yeah, 68 we had the theater in
that beautiful Hokie Stone Burruss Hall.
Wow, beautiful.
Burruss Hall was a WPA project
that was built in the 30s.
Some of the craftsmen were from
that period right after the Depression.
Wow, and were you a student at that time?
Yes, I was.
Awesome. Do you have
any particular memories in
that space from your time as a student?
In that space?
Well, it was [OVERLAPPING].
In terms of that hall,
it was a wonderful place to see some concerts and
speakers and also musical events.
It was not a good place for live theater
because it was such a giant hall
and sound was not amplified
well for actor's voices,
but I did see several traveling shows that came through.
One of which I thought was really trans formative for
the campus was a roadshow of Hair.
There was a roadshow out of New York,
of Hair completely done
exactly like the show in New York with
nudity and it was
just a fabulous show for the campus and I remember,
everybody was hesitant to bring it here
because they thought the president might object,
but when asked he said,
"I've seen the show, I loved it New York bring it."
That was a transformative show for theatre,
and then to bring it on
a college campus and the early 70s was even more so.
Wow, I can only imagine yes,
[LAUGHTER] what a shaky [LAUGHTER] proposal there.
What did you feel about the show?
Did you enjoy it?
I was exhilarated. I thought it was
just exciting and to see
the emotion in the young actors and they're singing,
"Let the Sunshine In" to close the show and they're
all have tears streaming down
their face standing on the front of the stage.
It was an emotional show.
Well done music, lyrics,
everything about the show.
That show was reappeared in Blacksburg
several times, not a roadshow,
but it's been done by
local companies and even student actors.
Hair has been repeated in a couple of
decades since the 70s.
Okay.
You can tell that was my favorite [OVERLAPPING].
Your favorite show [LAUGHTER].
That's wonderful. Let's see.
I think this would be interesting
"If This Was A Dream" form.
"If This Were a Dream".
Some of our actors over in Florence,
Alabama are having a bit of
a tornado watch at the moment,
so we have some issues there.
Can I ask Keelie and
Jorge are you still with us and
want to play or should we count you out?
Hey... [INAUDIBLE] .
[LAUGHTER] Okay, I'm going to interrupt and say,
You all should take care of yourselves and
your safety as we can't hear you.
[DISTORTED, INAUDIBLE SPEAKING].
Can we mute Keelie just for a moment?
Why don't we do that, why don't we do that... muting Keelie.
Okay. Thank you, Kazzy for that intervention.
Good, and yeah, Jorge and Keelie,
if you can hear me, take care of yourselves and your safety,
feel free to sit out
the next few forms or all if you need.
We're here though still to reflect on
Tom's beautiful story of seeing
Hair [LAUGHTER] and how trans formative that was,
how exhilarating that was,
and it would be lovely if we could
have then Kazzy, Yokko,
and KSR in "If This Were A Dream".
Everybody else can go ahead and take their cameras off.
Let's watch.
[MUSIC]
[NOISE]
If this were a dream,
I would be at my favorite carnival fair.
I would be in my favorite outfit, running around,
looking at all the bright lights in
the night sky with all my friends,
feeling that elation and excitement as I look up and
hear the screams of joy and exhilaration,
and seeing that roller coaster go all the way up and
all the way down and feeling
myself getting ready to do the same.
It would be a real trip.
If it were a dream,
I see many colors, red,
and orange, and yellow,
and blue, and purple.
They're shining like a disco ball.
Then I see rainbow in a blue sky.
Double rainbow and triple rainbow in a mountain.
I feel like I can do anything.
I really can feel anything and so
inspired now as a shinning day.
If it was a dream,
there would be hair everywhere.
There would be long hair,
there would be wavy hair,
and everything would be free, and moving,
and full of life,
and maybe can still work with racy,
but more about being joyful and life and hair.
If this were a dream,
I would be at my favorite carnival fair.
If it were a dream,
I'm in a triple rainbow world.
If it were dream there would be hair everywhere.
Thank you actors and musician.
[APPLAUSE] Our audience can
come back on with their cameras,
and we'll check in with our Teller, Tom.
Did you resonate with that?
Was that of the exhilaration you felt?
Yes. I think that was
representative and it was like living a dream.
Beautiful. Thank you very much for sharing, Tom.
I'm curious what other stories folks might like
to share about their time at Virginia Tech.
We've heard about it feeling like home.
We've heard of this fun excitement,
this somewhat taboo thing of
hair [LAUGHTER] being welcome on this college campus.
What other stories are in the room?
I guess I'll say that part of the reason I
said home is because it literally is home.
[LAUGHTER] Blacksburg.
The pandemic has brought me back here.
I'm still based in New York City,
but nothing's happening there.
I'm back here in Blacksburg in
the house I lived in when I went to Virginia Tech.
My sister and my dad and my mom went to Virginia Tech,
but I started at UVA.
Of all places, of course,
if you know Virginia Tech.
I started there in astrophysics because I wanted to
be an astronaut really.
I ended up with a Theatre Arts degree at Virginia Tech.
I loved it there.
My dear Bob Leonard is here on today.
I guess my time at Virginia Tech,
I really think of PAB,
the Performing Arts Building, which is pre-Henderson.
[LAUGHTER] Henderson still hadn't
been renovated at the time I was there.
It was a hospital,
that's what it was built for.
I remember having an on-camera class
in one of those rooms,
but it was so echoey.
[LAUGHTER] Anyway, I loved the Performing Arts Building,
it's been since taken over by guests,
administration of some sort.
My time there was really based around that building.
Anyone who was at Tech in
theater arts in those years
seems to be very fond of being there.
Now I put together my science person and
my theatre person and
I do a show on the actress and inventor, Hedy Lamarr.
That's how I brought the two parts of
myself together and I toured the world with that show,
and I was very honored to present
the show in the Cube at
the Moss Arts Center a couple of years ago.
That was a really lovely thing for me.
Wow, Heather.
Thank you for sharing how full
circle your story is. [LAUGHTER]
Exactly, because we also
performed at the University of Virginia,
so both of those things.
He was saying about
missing graduation, is she still here?
Anyway, the big thing at UVA is walking the lawn,
and because I didn't graduate from UVA,
I didn't walk the lawn.
It was risky for me to do the show there
because I was in
Old Cabell Hall which was built for commencement.
Of course, I was lucky
enough to get my graduation from Virginia Tech and
have that clean stadium and of course,
also, my time there Don Drapeau was the head of
the theater department and I remember us all sitting
on the stage for
graduation because that's how we had class.
You would sit, you'd be usually barefoot,
and if you wore jeans, you were sent home.
[LAUGHTER] You couldn't move in those.
Anyway, I loved my time at Virginia Tech and
my time back here has
been comforting and agonizing because of COVID.
I'm sure. Well, thank
you Heather for sharing your experiences with us.
I think this would be interesting to see in perspectives.
For this forum, I'll ask Heather for you
to cast someone as yourself.
Of our actors remaining here, Kazzy, Katelyn,
KSR, and Yokko, who would you like to play you?
KSR.
Okay, KSR.
Heather is your name?
Heather, you're a performer
and an astrophysics student early on,
and you put those loves together in your one-person show?
I love that. Let's see some of
the other characters that I heard
there are these beautiful spaces.
The old Performing Arts Building
sounds like it could be a character here.
Between Kazzy and Yokko,
who do you think could be that lovely old building?
I don't know if they can do this.
I would have them do it together cause
it's more than just one person.
It's a two-person building here,
housing all [OVERLAPPING] this industry
all this creative activity.
Wonderful. We'll look forward to seeing that then.
At this point, all the audience
can turn their cameras off.
We'll make our perspectives on
Heather's journey at Virginia Tech
and with the performing arts building.
Let's watch. [MUSIC]
[BACKGROUND].
These feel like, no that's not her.
Do these feel like her? You could still write,
you could still invent
things while wearing these bracelets.
I think these feel heavy.
Yeah. Let's see.
Maybe, I don't know. No, these are too heavy.
Shine with light.
She likes light.
Perfect. I'm going to make this show great.
This is what I'm born to do.
Yeah, I think I like these.
Yeah, these feel heavy.
Now.
[NOISE] Perfect. Hedy Lamarr,
I like it. [MUSIC]
I'm looking at you Heather.
I'm looking at you Heather. She is good.
Oh, isn't she beautiful?
She's good.
Just want to give her a big hug
[OVERLAPPING] come in here honey, come in here.
Let's have a cup of tea.
[OVERLAPPING] I haven't seen
so many students in the past and the performers,
a lot of performers.
It's good. She has like
a right heart. I said good passion.
Look at this hearts just bursting.
[OVERLAPPING]
She so caring about work.
That we need.
We need a care.
Following her heart.
Then we will hold the performance.
Yes.
You can do it honey.
[OVERLAPPING].
You can stand. You can fly.
You go to the edge and fly.
We'll be here.
We got a big hug and a cup of
tea and love just waiting for you,
you just be who you want to be.
Just go to journey and then come back
here we waiting for you. Yeah.
We love you.
Thank you actors and musicians.
[APPLAUSE] At this point we can bring
our audience back on screen and check in with our teller.
Heather, how was that for you?
Well, I have to say I was very shy just to talk today.
I thought, Oh, goodness,
I just want to watch.
It was really nice and that was really lovely
and something I needed to hear today and KSR, yes.
I've got my heavy right here.
Yeah, there is a lot of that choosing
what's right and it was lovely to have P.A.B.
welcome me home. Thank you very much I appreciate that.
Thank you Heather for your experience and your story.
We welcome it and are so honored.
Made me weep a little,
so very good job. Thank you.
Thank you. Wow. We've heard
so many variations on how
Virginia Tech has been a home to people.
I invite at this point,
anyone who cares to
tell a story who hasn't yet, you're most welcome.
But I can also pose this question,
the Virginia Tech history Council,
and as they prepare now for the Sesquicentennial,
the 150 year anniversary upcoming this year.
It's very much interested in stories that
perhaps had gone hidden or unheard.
Maybe stories that are contested or suppressed.
I want to say at this point too that if someone has
a story that they care to share of that nature,
that it is also welcome.
It would be interesting and fine to
hear a story maybe that you've never told.
But of course, it's an option.
We're very happy also to hear
about how Virginia Tech has been home in
some other way or something else entirely.
Are there other stories that feel
important to tell at this time?
I'll go. So football is a huge thing at Virginia Tech.
I can probably say I went to five football games.
I don't know if I really stayed through all of them.
I can confer where I stayed through two.
Of course, football, it's a whole day event.
I never really got into it,
but I remember walking
around the stadium and just feeling very
overwhelmed and pondering why
it was okay that people didn't know where they were.
They were so far gone
from drinking or whatever substance they were on,
how that was such an accepted thing that I was like,
"I want to be present."
Theater is all about being present and in the moment,
and yet it was expected that you wake up
at 7:00 AM and start chugging beer,
and I was like, [LAUGHTER] "I don't want this.
I don't want to be a part of this."
I would like my coffee in the morning and
then maybe a glass of wine with dinner.
I don't know if fear is necessarily the right word,
but just curiosity is,
and a little bit of sadness maybe that that was
the accepted and encouraged thing to do.
Sure. Some sadness that so many were so unpresent, yeah.
Thank you, Catherine, for
sharing that experience as well.
Such an interesting flip side that a place of
so much home can also contain
such contradiction or paradox.
I think this would be lovely to respond
to with a three-minute poem.
A three-minute poem.
At this point, I'll
invite the audience to turn their cameras off.
If you're just joining us as I think one person has,
I'll remind you that this performance is best viewed with
non-video participants hidden and
in the gallery view mode.
I'll turn my camera off.
This is a three-minute poem about
Catherine's experience. Let's listen.
[MUSIC]
In between worlds of what's expected,
I will take the trees, and the flowers,
and the green grass over that fifth glass.
I'd like my eyes open,
rather than halfway awake.
I'd like to fill open and ready than pretty much bait.
It's interesting I'm curious as to why this is
the way when don't people
want to see the whole thing play?
No matter you do you and what service you're soul okay,
but I'll take being present any day.
[MUSIC]
Big game day.
Beer, beer, beer.
Get your beer, beer, beer.
Game Day, ready. Game day,
not so steady.
Beer, beer, beer.
This is fun, right?
This is safe, right?
Beer, beer, beer.
Oh, watch out, that's puke.
Beer, beer, beer.
Get back into this.
They seem to be enjoying this,
but all of this gives me is fear, fear, fear.
[MUSIC]
[NOISE] Football stadium,
loud noise, excitement, scream, yet somehow empty.
Cheering sound, fun.
Dancing mascot, fun.
I love the path to the cafe,
the cafe hidden in the trees.
I love that moment I feel green,
squirrel running,
in the mountain and blue sky and clouds.
Green field, I lie down,
close my eyes, hearing the sound.
People chattering and loud voices,
laughing, cheering, bird noises.
Tree and the wind,
cup of tea, and a breath,
be with a friend.
[MUSIC]
Thank you actors and musicians.
[APPLAUSE] At this point,
the audience can bring their cameras back on.
We can check it with Catherine.
How was that for you?
That was excellent. That captured,
I think little bits of what
I feel or felt in that situation, each story.
Each poem had different elements that resonated.
[NOISE]
Wonderful. We're nearing the end of our time.
We could have one or maybe two shorter stories.
There were stories yet to tell.
Again, if anyone wants,
feel free to unmute yourself or raise a hand.
If there's something you're inspired to say.
[LAUGHTER] I know we're a small crew here today,
so no need to speak more than you feel moved.
You may speak again or
speak for the first time if so moved.
[LAUGHTER]
Tom. Students are known for loving to demonstrate.
I remember when living
in the residence hall and eating in the dining hall,
how poor the food was,
and there was a cockroach found in one of the puddings,
a picture of it made it into the campus paper,
and all the students formed
a demonstration a few days later.
Invited the newspaper press and cameras to come and had
a student dressed as a cockroach carried on
a stretcher and paraded into the dining hall,
which is followed with a food fight.
There was people throwing food and everything.
It ended up being a mess but made a lot of
press for the university or at least the
students who wanted to make a point.
Did the food improve?
Yes, the food improved.
All it took was a little bit of fun demonstrating.
It was all peaceful, nothing too outrageuos,
but that was also in the 1960s.
What an era?
No more cockroaches in dining hall puddings. [LAUGHTER]
I feel I need to go back in time to [LAUGHTER] the '60s.
[LAUGHTER].
The food was much better for you, Catherine.
The food was not as good as it is now.
[LAUGHTER]
Well, thank you. Tom, if I can ask,
where were you in the middle of all of this?
I was a spectator when the cockroach
appeared on a stretcher but I was part of the food fight.
I did join in the food fight.
Throwing food instead of eating it.
[LAUGHTER] Yes. Okay.
[OVERLAPPING] One of the best things
Virginia Tech ever did was turn
the dining hall into the Mass Ark Center.
[NOISE].
True.
Wonderful. The Mass Ark Center,
we've heard a little already today about
that Performing Arts Building, if I'm correct.
Howard, do you care to say anymore about that?
Just made a much better use for that facility.
[LAUGHTER] They no longer provided food,
The food is much
better elsewhere on campus and it was the truth.
Wow. Yeah. Well, thank
you Howard for chiming in here. I appreciate it.
Why don't we see a Fluid Sculpture based on
Tom's experience enriched here
by this insight we have from Howard.
[LAUGHTER] What an experience to have
the cockroach and food fight and all else.
We'll see this as a Fluid Sculpture.
The audience can go ahead and turn your cameras off,
so will I and let's watch. [MUSIC].
Take this mashed potatoes. [NOISE]
I'm just a little cockroach,
I didn't mean any harm. [NOISE]
Take orange.
I'm going to eat.
Take the orange.
I'm going to eat.
I'm just a little cockroach.
I didn't mean any harm. [MUSIC]
[LAUGHTER] [APPLAUSE] Thank you, Tom.
[LAUGHTER] If Howard is still here,
did that resonate with any of your experience as well?
Just to check in with our secondary.
Not really, but it was good.
Was something missing?
Is there something you'd like to add, Howard?
No, I don't think so.
[LAUGHTER]
Thank you for those stories.
At this point, I think unless there's
anything else that needs to be told,
we can begin to wrap up.
We can pick a space,
I think first to just acknowledge
the stories that have gone untold.
Whether or not you spoke today,
there might yet be something in your psyche,
something in your heart.
A special meaning the Virginia Tech has.
As I said before, in playback,
we believe everybody has
a story and those stories deserve to be told.
If not now, then maybe later,
maybe some other time.
[LAUGHTER] I invite us
to close then with
a little audience participatory ritual,
we can reflect on the things we've
heard tonight using this little phrase,
once upon a time there was.
You can fill in the blank with anything you remember or
found special from tonight's stories.
[LAUGHTER] For example, once upon a time,
there was a story about a cockroach.
[LAUGHTER] Anyone can chime in.
Once upon a time,
there was a story about feeling torn
between presence and non presence.
[NOISE] Once upon a time there was a story back home.
Once upon a time there was a story about a tough goodbye.
Once upon a time the story of using
a place and changing the place is a better use.
Once upon a time,
there was a story about community.
Once upon a time,
there was a story about discovery and exhilaration.
Once upon a time,
there were stories about Virginia Tech.
Thank you all so much for coming and
participating in this performance tonight.
We have so much enjoyed hearing your stories.
I want to extend a special thank
you again to our partners,
the College of Liberal Arts and Human
Sciences and the alumni director there,
Christina Miller in the School of Performing Arts
and VET history council,
Bob Leonard in Virginia,
VT stories Ren Harman
in the university libraries Anita Waltz.
Thank you all for your support behind the scenes here.
As I said before,
you could look forward to reviewing tonight as part of
Storytelling on Screen, an
online Playback Theatre archive,
open education resource on Playback Theatre.
Again, we are The Ume Group.
And if you want to find out more about us,
you can at www.theumegroup.org.
Once again, thank you all so much for joining us
tonight and have a great rest of your evening.
[LAUGHTER]