During this week of thrills and chills, the Mississippi State University Shackouls Honors College will present a radio drama fit for All Hallows’ Eve. The first-of-its-kind project, “A Halloween Feast with Seneca’s Oedipus,” will be released to listeners beginning Monday and through Oct. 31 on the honors college website, honors.msstate.edu. It will also be broadcast on MSU’s radio station 91.1 FM at 7 p.m. Thursday and 9 p.m. Saturday, and on East Mississippi Community College’s radio station 92.7 at 3 p.m. Thursday.
The Honors College traditionally presents an annual “Classical Week” play, plus related events, every September, but COVID-19 sidelined this year’s plans. To continue with a classical “theatrical” activity for the fall semester, however, Donna Clevinger, professor and senior faculty fellow at the honors college and play director, decided to produce Roman playwright Seneca’s Oedipus as a radio drama, harkening to the age of popular radio dramas of the 20th century.
Ancient Greek and Roman playwrights used the story of Oedipus to teach and thrill their audiences. It contains ingredients of a horror story, said Clevinger, with the appearance of a ghost, animal sacrifice and human disfigurement, along with incest and impalements. It is also a timely play, she added: King Oedipus and his city of Thebes is besieged with a plague as the play begins, reminiscent of our own continuing struggles with the novel coronavirus.
Eighteen honors students serve as cast members and production staff. They represent a cross section of campus majors including Engineering, Business, Animal and Dairy Science, Computer Science and Education.
Chloe Abernathy of Gordo, Alabama, a junior, said, “The cast and crew put in an enormous effort to create a production that would be safe for viewers during the challenging fall 2020 semester, and they did so with smiles and joyful spirits so that a show could go on. This production has taught me what it means to be a part of the Bulldog Family.”
Zoe Nunn, a student from Memphis, Tennessee, remarked, “I love that we are bringing classic plays to life in new ways for others today because it continues to keep people interested in these stories. … I met so many new people that I never would not have met on campus otherwise.”
The radio drama has been a special experience, Clevinger noted.
“With past productions, there were many elements to consider besides the sounds of a character’s voice. The staging, character movements, costumes and props are vital to the annual outdoor production,” she said. “Now, with only the student’s voice, sounds effects and original music composed and performed by cast and production staff members to convey all that is not seen, this ‘Halloween feast’ has been a learning as well as a rewarding experience.
“I am so very proud of these students, their commitment and sacrifice to this first-ever project. It has been a wonderful treat for the honors college.”
Clevinger extended thanks to all who provided personal and professional support for the radio drama project. Particular thanks go to Wade Leonard, honors college Outreach and Student Services coordinator; Don Vaughan, professor at East Mississippi Community College; and MSU’s MaxxSouth Broadband Digital Media Center for the use of the facility.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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