Spring 2006 -- Vol. 59, No. 2

Clemson student Claire Pavlich is on her hands and knees in the semidarkness. In a black shirt and dark jeans, she is playing with light. Her arms and face and little else are visible from the back of an empty Florida theater. She moves her hands just a few inches away, and the light follows. Satisfied, she looks skyward to unseen catwalks and gives more instructions.

Around her, cast mates pace. Their period costumes look at home in Pavlich’s varying light. The Clemson students walk in circles muttering nonsensical lines and contorting their faces in preparation for curtain. Occasionally, one bellows out a line from The Decameron Project, their vehicle to Florida and, later, to Scotland.

From the shadows of the otherwise empty seats, director and playwright Mark Charney shouts out advice and encouragement while assistant director Michael Chase ’98 monitors a light board.

When the curtain rises in another hour, The Decameron Project ensemble will deliver more than a play at the University of North Florida. The audience, assembled for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival regional competition, will observe Clemson students who understand their show more than actors who simply memorize lines.

These students have immersed themselves in 14th century Florence, Italy. They began by reading Giovanni Boccaccio’s 1,000-page novel The Decameron. They’ve researched the clothes, culture, manners and history of the era. They’ve grown to understand the bubonic plague that’s central to the performance. They know their hairstyles are appropriate for the times, their moneybags are the right color, and what constitutes good cause for a duel in Florence.

The project is a result of Clemson’s creative inquiry initiative.

Championed by Clemson Provost Dori Helms, creative inquiry — a comprehensive form of undergraduate research — includes intensive, discovery-oriented approaches to learning. It emphasizes an experience that will be meaningful to undergraduate students and will promote reasoning and critical-thinking skills, ethical judgment, communication skills and a deep understanding of the methods of scientific or humanities research.

The Decameron Project is the University’s first highly visible creative inquiry project from the humanities.

“Richard Goodstein [project director] and I were among the first to initiate a creative inquiry project,” says Mark Charney, chairman of the English department. “In fact, we began the semester before the project was set.

“We wanted an opportunity to illustrate that the humanities involve research just as deeply as any other subject. With the provost’s good plan, we asked students to commit themselves fully to a theatrical project from its inception to its staging. They auditioned and then dedicated themselves to two years of research, design, writing and character work.”

Eleven students began working together two years ago, coming to know The Decameron far better than they would have by simply studying the novel. Along the way, many of the students honed their professional skills. Pavlich, for example, is majoring in production studies in performing arts. She designed the lighting in addition to her role in the cast and as one of the choreographers.

“The challenge for me as the lighting designer was to show the journey of the characters away from Florence and the plague — time of day, location, that kind of thing — and the stark contrast between the dark reality they are facing and the stories that are their escape,” says Pavlich. “Through the development of the script and text of Boccaccio, we realized that the stories are what keep the characters alive. And I wanted the lights to reflect this. All the research and prep work for this creative inquiry project allowed me to craft a more complete, developed design.”

The students spent the first year closely analyzing the text of the novel and the culture of 1348 Florence — from Boccaccio’s life to the plague, from music to courting rituals.

“Students essentially did a year of table work as dramaturges, designers, writers, actors, singers, dancers, musicians and classmates,” says Charney. “They shared personal stories, analyzed themes, wrote lyrics and music, determined emphasis areas and helped to choose from among the novel’s 100 tales the ones for our adaptation.” He used their research to write and direct the play.

Goodstein, chairman of the performing arts department, says most plays begin with something that is already completed. “We usually start with some kind of finished product, but this one was ‘from the page to the stage,’” he says. Goodstein also served as music mentor for the production, which included original music by the students.

The Decameron Project was Clemson’s entry into the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival for South Carolina, where it advanced to the regional competition in Jacksonville. There, Megan Israel earned the award for design/crafts, and Allison Kellar won the student dramaturgy award.

In August, the production goes by invitation to Scotland for a performance in the Fringe Festival, widely considered the most significant theater festival in the world. It may be the students’ swan song, but their project will continue to play throughout their Clemson experience.

Roll the credits
Mark Charney and Richard Goodstein were project directors for The Decameron Project. Charney wrote and directed the play while Michael Chase served as assistant director. Chase also designed the poster and the program.

David Hartmann was the production manager when the show toured in Florida, and Michael East served as technical director and co-production stage manager along with Claire Pavlich.

Pavlich was in charge of lighting design and worked on choreography with Carrie Ann Collins. Allison Kellar was the dramaturge. East was in charge of scene design; Megan Israel, property design; and Emily Perkins, costume design.

Israel, Goodstein, East and Lauren Brewer were the composers.

The cast included Clemson students Emily Perkins, Megan Hildebrand, Megan Israel, Lauren Brewer, Claire Pavlich, Michael East, Will Cathcart, Jason Adkins, Eric Stewart and Jeff McLaren along with 13-year-old London Morris.

To learn more about the play, contact Charney at (864) 656-3151 or cmark@clemson.edu. For more on Clemson’s performing arts department, visit the Web at www.clemson.edu/PerfArts.