NW theater to delve into former playwright’s torments
by Michael Kraft, entertainment editor

    The NW Campus theater department’s show, Born On a Sunday, will open tomorrow and run through Sunday, Oct. 14.

    It is written and directed by T.J. Walsh, adjunct instructor, and produced by Brent Alford, drama instructor.

    The show is about playwright August Strindberg and his “Inferno” period in 1896, when he is in Paris and going through severe psychotic episodes with memories of his past brought to life.
    He is compelled by furies and a mysterious power that controls him.

    Strindberg meets a young psychologist, Horatio Christensen, and the two begin a bizarre relationship.

    Christensen has a dark past that he has suppressed.

    As he gets further and further into Strindberg’s head, the sessions begin to bring out his own dark memories, and he must face them.
Strindberg, meanwhile, is being cured as he is passing all his bad “juju” to Christensen.

    Walsh got the idea for the play years ago when he was in college.

    “I had a theatre history teacher who was Scandinavian and a huge Strindberg fan. I guess the seed was planted then, and it just didn’t get put together until recently,” he said.

    The show features veteran actors Nick Kougias and Seth Martin as Strindberg and Christensen, respectively.

    Kougias is returning to TCC for this show, having already earned his bachelor’s degree.

    “The show is really great, and I like the ‘role-reversal’ where Strindberg begins helping Chris-tensen through his own demons,” he said.

    Martin has done many shows at TCC and other theaters and is glad to be working with Walsh again.

    “This is my fourth show to work with T.J., and it is fantastic,” he said.

    Andy Baldwin, who plays The Power, is enjoying his role.

“The Power is kind of Strindberg’s conscience, and he fights with the furies and demons,” he said.

    Paula Adams is Siri, Strindberg’s first ex-wife, and she appears to him in dreams and memories. This is her first show on stage at TCC.

    “Siri is his first ex-wife who is constantly tormenting and teasing him,” she said.

    Leah Carithers-Jeffers is Rebecca, the love interest of Christensen.
    She has done many shows at TCC and says that this one is different from the others.

    “Rebecca was the first female admitted into the medical school and the first to become a doctor, not a small feat back in 1896,” she said.

    Krissie Day, the stage manager, thinks the show is strong.

    “It’s very different from anything we’ve done in the past, and it’s really fabulous,” she said.

    Other cast members include Jenny Liang as Strindberg’s evil stepmother, Kevin Haberer as Doctor DeSaint and Debbie Adkins as Frida.

    Others cast member are Kevin Hewitt as The Father and Kasey Barber, Melissa Pitman, Paige Fockler, Mokahanna Coffey, Sylvia Acosta and Melissa Malherbe as The Furies.