From Script to Spotlight

A biting winter wind blows students across campus and into the refuge of  The David E. and Stacey L. Goel Center for Theater and Dance. Inside, Theater and Dance Department Chair David Rhee wastes no time in leading a kinetic warmup to start class.  

Stocking feet patter on the floor as bodies wave across the mirrored rehearsal space in rhythm to Rhee’s direction: “Left, one, two, three. Right, one, two, three!” Part aerobics, part yoga, the 15-minute workout is a routine he created during his years as  a dancer and actor. He uses it to get the students’ blood pumping and ground them in this portion of their school day. Rhee, and the two dozen Exonians in motion, will spend the next three months preparing for the winter main stage performance of The Far Country.

Rhee slows to a stop and instructs students to do the same. “Now we’re going to breathe in the day  and breathe out the day,” he says. Exaggerated inhalations and exhalations echo across the room. With brows damp and heart rates elevated, Rhee explains the plan for the remainder of the class block, send ing actors and tech crew scattering throughout the  building.  

Robyn Davies ’26, Axel Pena ’27, Juliana Tavarez ’28 and Amerson Liang ’28 stay behind with Rhee and quickly rearrange the room using tables and chairs to mimic the sets that will eventually be built for the main stage. Scripts in hand, the four students read through Act 1, Scene 1, incorporating stage direction for the first time.  

The Far Country, a 2022 play written by Lloyd Suh, is set in San Francisco in the early 1900s. At the time, Chinese immigrants and American citizens born to Chinese parents were scrutinized, persecuted and  interned by the United States government.  

“Shall we try this, from the top of Page 1?” Rhee says. The play’s opening scene is set in an increasingly tense interrogation room. Liang plays an American-born laundry business owner being  grilled by an immigration inspector played by Pena. Rhee looks on, jotting notes in his script margins, interjecting direction to Tavarez, who is playing the inspector’s assistant. 

“Ahem!” Rhee demonstrates clearing his throat. “We need to establish the mannerisms of your character,” he says. “This is your way of stealing focus, so  you can hand him another piece of paper.” 

As the scene continues, the students alternate  lines as Rhee quietly gestures his desired stage movements and adds an occasional “Good!” when the actors hit their marks.  

Elsewhere in the building, the tech crew works  through the initial design of the show’s stagecraft. Actors with parts in Act 2 rehearse lines in the lobby. Rhee has set aside class time for the show’s actors to work with Modern Language Instructors Ning Zhou and Ting Yuan to perfect the nuance of their accents.  

As the students end rehearsal for the day, they work through how they will strike and exit the stage. Then they receive Rhee’s parting praise: 

“For a first time through, that was great, really nice work!”