Snow College’s A Period Piece Explores Feminism

EPHIRAM — Snow College’s new devised production, A Period Piece, is a collection of short stories and homages to other feminist works. The focus of A Period Piece is mostly the story of women’s daily struggles both in current times and in the past, all within about 80 minutes.  A Period Piece was created through a devising process by a team of students: Jess Wallace, Kennadee Hewlett, Caylee Nesbit, Arianna Fitzgarrald, Lilly Passey, Chloe Hannah, Connor Power, and Joshua Peterson. In the opening, the cast describes that A Period Piece is composed of not only original work but also interviews, scenes, and songs. 

The piece “Heaven Forbid,” by Lilly Passey, was one of my personal favorites. It follows a girl admiring her dress and then gets ridiculed at school for the revealing dress. The blocking with the girl and her reflection dances comfortably in the dress. Then once at school, notes are passed to her. Body image and self-esteem issues are more prevalent than ever, and life experience highlighted the impact of this scene. The ending of the piece has the reflection of the girl hugging the girl and concludes that she did look good in that dress. This ending of self-love, even in a storm of judgment, the only voice or perspective that truly matters is your own. 

Another scene titled “I Don’t Want to Be a Mom,” by Ari Jamieson and Chloe Hannah, is a monologue about not wanting to be a mom. I felt like this beautifully captured the societal pressure of needing to have kids. The piece illustrates it is primarily the woman’s choice if she is going to have kids. There is a line that said that it is selfish to not have kids, which comments on the rhetoric that people have used against women. This rhetoric, I fear, shuts down the conversation of kids. Are we to assume that a married woman should have kids? I love that A Period Piece used real interviews or verbetim performance to tackle this question.

The piece adopted from known works. I love the use of songs from the musicals: Shrek the Musical by Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn, and Waitress by Sara Bareilles. The dynamic of storytelling through song helps send the message of the many ways women do have a voice and a form of expression. Particularly, I enjoyed the “Waitress Meldley,” songs by Sara Bareilles and arranged by Chloe Hannah. The arrangement was executed beautifully; the concept of turning the usual three-part harmony into five parts gave a stronger sense of support and community. However, I felt like not acknowledging the abuse in Waitress is a injustice. 

There is a portion of this piece where the performers interact with the audience. The cast plays an improvisational game with the audience. In general, I personally do not like improv; however, I found myself laughing at the improved relationships of a couple from different time periods. Again, this also introduces another form of theater. Another form of expression. My only grievance was that the improv did not feel connected to the rest of the piece. The pacing slowed down which made getting back into the continuation of the vignettes difficult to reengage.

A Period Piece uses dancing as well as choreographed movement in many of its vignettes. In “Daddy-Daughter Dance,” actors Arianna Fitzgarrald, Caylee Nesbit, and Chloe Hannah danced to “Daddy’s Little Girl” by The Stylistics, and the dance was choreographed by Caylee Nesbit. “Daddy-Daughter Dance” depicts a young girl growing up and dancing with her father at different stages of her life. Once as a child, a teen, and finally on her wedding day. The choreography conveyed the passage of time so wonderfully. At each stage the actors beautifully conveyed the relationship between the daughter and her father. For example, Caylee Nesbit depicted the teen version of the daughter, and she showed her want for independence by dancing alone. This had so much emotional weight to it once the wedding day came and they had a final daddy-daughter dance. I couldn’t help but tear up. 

Overall, A Period Piece succeeds in creating a multifaceted and emotional depiction of women’s experiences through a variety of theatrical forms.  Due to the complex political and social views of women, I recognize being a man impacts my interpretation of the show’s themes. While certain elements momentarily disrupt the pacing and cohesion, the strength of the piece lies in its willingness to amplify diverse voices and perspectives through storytelling, movement, and music.

I do caution that there are some content warnings such as mature content, eating disorders, sexual assault, miscarriages, stillbirths, grief, and loss. You are free to step out for a bit and come back into the theatre.

I highly recommend watching Snow College’s devised work which leaves a lasting impression by reminding audiences of the complexity of these lived experiences and the importance of creating space for them to be seen, heard, and felt.