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Reviews, Letters and Article Excerpts |
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Quilters |
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The pain and joy of life on the American prairie are captured in the musical play, Quilters, which opened Friday at the Pavilion Theater on campus. This Penn State School of Theatre production provides a good start to the new theater season... this production of Quilters is extraordinary, well worth the investment of an evening. Everything about this production is done well, seemlessly integrated into a cohesive bit of theatre... Directed and choreographed by Kate Arecchi, as part of her Masters of Fine Arts degree requirements, Quilters, combines exquisite staging with a perfect canvas of visual elements... Arecchi's staging is always interesting and highly creative. Using the actors' bodies and movements, she magically transforms the Pavilion stage into the wild and unforgiving West.
Quality material makes 'Quilters' a must-see production
by Harry Zimbler
Centre Daily Times
10/1/2002 |
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Pioneer women often had no choice but to say farewell to family and friends and prepare for the long journey. "These women had no idea what they would see," said director and choreographer Kate Arecchi, a third-year Master's of Fine Arts student. "They encountered huge mountain ranges, colors they didn't know existed. I keep thinking how small they must have felt, the courage it would take to move through the big world. Pioneers were forced to leave many possessions behind, but quilts proved to be a necessity. Just as a quilt is started from scraps, these women started their lives all over from what little or nothing they had."
It isn't until the very end of Quilters that the complete and finished legacy quilt is revealed. The quilt represents the many trials that women on the frontier overcame as well as the personal trials of the mother.
[According to Arecchi,] "The major issue is tenacity of the spirit of not just women, but of the American people -- our stories and our history."
Circle of Strength: Cast of 'Quilters' Celebrates Courage of Pioneer Women
By Sarah Haner
The Daily Collegian
9/26/2002 |
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Carousel |
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For Director Kate Arecchi, fate has nothing to do with it. Carousel is all about human nature, down to its simplest form: darkness versus the light.
"I wanted to capture the metaphor of Carousel. As human beings, some things remain unchanged, we try to reach for something better and deal with the consequences of our actions. On a carousel, there are those brass rings, and as you go for the ride, you reach for them. It's about taking the chance and reaching upwards."
Reaching for her own brass ring, Arecchi successfully distanced the naturally dark and murky qualities of Carousel from the camp style of the musicals' previous theatrical productions. Focusing on the relationships of the characters, she worked diligently with her cast to find the core of each personality and to find which buttons to press to bring out that characters behavior.
Carousel Brought to Life by Talented Cast and Crew
By Tracey L. Smith
The Clock
4/11/03 |
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