Kaitlin Soden’s Expectations is a 35-minute original dance piece adapting the play “Machinal” by Sophie Treadwell (1928) into movement.
“The famous Expressionist play was written in response to the infamous murder trial of Ruth Snyder. Treadwell presents a parable about the mechanization of society, particularly for women,” Soden said.
“The play follows an ordinary woman, ‘any woman,’ through nine different episodes of her adult life. This unnamed woman struggles to find agency within the hard, mechanized world around her.”
Expectations serves as Soden’s Bachelor of Fine Arts capstone project combining her degrees in Dance Performance and Technical Theatre. It was produced by the Associated Students of the Performing Arts (ASOPA).
Soden had six weeks to stage the show, from the first rehearsal to opening night. The process as a whole took about a year in production from start to finish.
“With any staged production especially fully original works, you must go through a whole pre-production process before rehearsals start,” Soden said.
Soden explained proposals must be made to producers, schedules must be finalized, find a team to help design the production and locating the funding to put the production on.
Expectations is centered around one woman, played by Claire Rhein, and other soloist characters such as Mr. Jones (Duncan Emmons), Lover (Joshua Luper), Mother (Sharice Urdiales) and Telephone Girl (Julianne Vicari).
The ensemble includes Katie Currier, Jessie Standley, Sidney Thomas, Jackson Ellison and Cody Wilcox.
“The rehearsal process for me was fantastic. I got to work with the dancers inside our department and learn so much from them and Kaitlin about dancing and different ways to use my body,” Duncan Emmons said.
“The process was quick, which I know was difficult for Claire; just learning all the moves for the show was a bit stressful for everyone. At the same time, it felt like the perfect amount of time for me to experiment, fall into character and perform the moves confidently.”
Emmons’s favorite part of the production was the collaboration of everyone in the show. He had the opportunity to learn new skills from each of his cast mates and to contribute those skills to the show.
“The collaboration between Kaitlin and I was new as well. It allowed the actor side of my brain to run with new ideas and movements I could add to the performance to make it even more unique,” Emmons said.
As well as Soden, there were five designers for this production, including costumes, sound, lighting, set & props and a stage manager. There was also one additional crew member to help work the show.
“I first developed this concept in February 2020, so it has been a long time coming. There has been a lot of pressure to get it right. At this point, the project has gotten much attention for its high ambition,” Soden said.
“It does take a lot of work, confidence and passion, but fully committing to the vision regardless of pressure makes it easy to rise to the occasion. Getting to produce this show is unreal to me, and it is wild to think I finally got to show it.”
