IN YOUR FACE WITH 'NOBODY'S JULIET'

In the 33 years Dr. Donald Schulte has been teaching at Southeast Missouri State University, he cannot recall any student ever writing and directing a play for presentation on the Rose Theatre stage. Student direction and writing have been reserved for the Lab Theatre.

But in a convergence of pragmatism -- an opening in the schedule -- and a worthy project Schulte says is unlike any a student at Southeast has attempted before in his memory, Megwyn Sanders' "Nobody's Juliet" is about to break new ground.

The play opens Tuesday night at the Rose Theatre.

"Pancakes. I need pancakes."

Those are the words Sanders often uttered to friends down the stretch run of writing "Nobody's Juliet," an experimental play she called "When I Was a Girl" until just a few weeks ago.

More accurately described as a performance studies piece, the play looks at the ways women's lives are formed. Sexual abuse, domestic violence and lesbianism are among their experiences. Because of its themes and the characters' use of profanity, the play is strongly recommended for mature audiences only.

"Nobody's Juliet" came about after Sanders was invited to direct a play at a performance studies festival to be held at Petitjean Mountain in Petitjean, Ark., in December. That play will be a shortened version of "Nobody's Juliet."

Sanders is majoring in performances studies, a branch of theater which uses alternative texts such as literature, poetry, interviews and personal narratives. "I am very taken with the idea that everybody has a hidden story nobody knows about," Sanders says. "... My goal is to share their stories with an audience."

The script for "Nobody's Juliet" started as her personal narrative, but writing one from her mother's perspective led her to think about the way women's lives are formed and intertwine.

"You know, there are women whose lives are more interesting than mine," she said.

She began interviewing some of them. She was surprised at how willing women were to talk about their lives and share their secrets. All have been guaranteed that their names never will be associated with the work.

Sanders transcribed miles of tape recordings to come up with Viola, Sarah, Dawn and Brianna, the four characters in "Nobody's Juliet." Viola and Sarah are in their early 20s, Dawn in her early 30s and Brianna's is the older and perhaps wisest voice.

The audience will sit onstage to create a sense of intimacy with the actresses. Sophomore Maeve Roach plays Viola and senior Julie Stoverink is Sarah. Junior Sarah Roberts plays Dawn, and sophomore Christina Williams is Brianna.

Poetry underpins the play. Some of it belongs to famous writers like Nikki Giovanni, Dianne Watkoski, Adrienne Rich and Marge Piercy, some to the women Sanders interviewed. "The last time I saw her, Grandmother had grown seamed as a Bedouin tent," Brianna says.

"Children are made in the night and steal your days for the rest of your life," she says at another point.

In Sanders' only previous directorial outing, a one-act in the Lab Theatre about women and their beliefs about their bodies, the four women in "The Most Massive Woman Wins" ended the performance by disrobing to their underwear. People are still talking about it. Sanders' says her aim is not to shock but to reveal what's true about her characters.

"I am firmly against using profanity for the sake of profanity. But without profanity I can't represent their characters as fully as I would like to. If they said it, it's in the script. ... I insist on the profanity in the show because that' the way the people talked.

She realizes some of the material may be objectionable to some people. "At the same time, that is ridiculous to me," she said. "This is a slice of life. This is as real a reflection as I can create."

"... I've been fighting with myself a lot to not hold back."

She hopes objectionable material will seem less so within the context of a performance. "Obviously, the other objectionable material will not," she said. "Obviously, child abuse isn't going to get any less objectionable."

Dr. Donald Schulte, who is the production's technical supervisor, has supported her desire to make the script as truthful as possible.

"We see our job as encouraging all kinds of theater. These days means you've got some plays where language is a little harsh." He says a recent University Theatre production, "American Buffalo," "makes Megwyn's play look tame by comparison."

She has found out how right one of her professors, Dr. Rob Dillon Jr., is when he says that creating a show is giving birth to something.

"I've never felt so attached and protective," she said. "And I'm amazed by all the creativity that comes into this birthing process."

Sanders grew up in Carthage, a city in western Missouri she describes as "extremely conservative." She received an academic scholarship to Southeast. Though involved in drama in high school, she had no theatrical plans at Southeast until cast in the role of Spirit in Dr. Sharon Bebout-Carr's play "Ghosts Still Speak."

Sanders still considered becoming a social worker and then a lawyer but always came back to theater. She has appeared in many University Theatre productions, including "Music Man," "Henry IV, Part 1," "Dancing at Lughnasa," "Plaza Suite," "Sugar," "The Cover of Life" and "As You Like It." She also has had major roles in the River City Players productions of "Nunsense" and "On Golden Pond."

"It's not good for the GPA to be in as many shows as I've been in," she says ruefully.

Sanders graduates in December. She plans someday to become a professor of performance studies "or at least be extremely educated and unemployed."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: "Nobody's Juliet"

WHEN: 8 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday, thursday, Oct. 6 and 7

WHERE: Rose Theatre

HOW MUCH: $6 general, $5 faculty, staff and seniors, $4 students

CONTACT: 651-2265