Riley Bartlebaugh, Mariel Berlin-Fischler and Natalie Piegari (right to left) wrote the plays performed for Shh! Library After Hours.
Three months ago, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center contacted three recent graduates of the University of Maryland’s theatre, dance and performance studies school about a playwriting project to be commissioned by the center. The alumnae, Riley Bartlebaugh, Natalie Piegari and Mariel Berlin-Fischler, each were asked to write a site-specific play spanning about 15 minutes and decide on a mutual theme.
This weekend, that project comes to life in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library as a part of The Clarice’s NextNOW Fest. The chosen theme: Shh! Library After Hours.
Each play is being performed by the same four-man troupe of theatre, dance and performance studies school alumni.
While the plays all focus on the same general theme, each writer went her own way with the specifics.
“I wrote my play to create discussions,” said Bartlebaugh.
She described her play, “The Librarian’s Story: A Campus Tale,” as an “intersection between literary canon … and rape culture on-campus,” hesitant to say more and risk spoiling the plot.
Since graduating, Bartlebaugh has worked as an assistant director of actor training at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts. Her journey with this project has been interesting, she said, as she has been unable to experience all of the pieces coming together firsthand from her new home up north.
“For me it’s been a little hard. … I’m seeing the plays for the first time tonight,” she said.
Despite the distance, she knew this wasn’t an opportunity to pass up. Some writers might have found the task of writing a play to take place inside the confines of a library daunting. Instead, Bartlebaugh ran with it.
“I didn’t stifle my imagination,” she said.
She explained that the logistics were secondary to her, choosing instead to focus on what would be meaningful and relevant.
Piegari, who wrote “Unbound,” viewed her task in a similar light.
“There is something about being physically in the space that grips the senses,” she said.
Piegari’s play lies at the crossroads of a ghost story and a tragic love story.
“I’m interested in what haunts people,” she said.
Since graduating, she’s worked at Young Playwrights’ Theater in Washington, D.C., and as an assistant to the artistic director intern at Forum Theatre in Silver Spring. The Kennedy Center’s Page to Stage festival also featured one of her plays.
The third play, “The Relationship Classification System,” a fantastical comedy written by Berlin-Fischler, focuses on “workplace relationships and getting what you want.”
The Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library staff is in an excited frenzy getting all the pieces together for the performance.
Stephen Henry, library director, explained the process of turning a relatively quiet library into a performance venue.
“The logistics are a bit of a challenge,” he said, chuckling about the unfamiliar tasks he’s taken part in while transforming the library into a stage complete with sets and dressing rooms.
“The idea is to show the library as a community gathering space and bring new audiences into the library,” he said.
Henry explained that while many people attend Clarice events, few venture into the library. He hopes this event will highlight the building both as a charming venue and a peaceful library.
“I think libraries tend to inspire creativity in people,” Henry said.
While members associated with the production are careful not to divulge too much information, keeping the details shrouded in the library’s mystery, one thing’s certainly clear: Viewers are in for a special night.
The productions will take place Sept. 10 and Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Entry is free. You can reserve your ticket online at tickets.theclarice.umd.edu.
