Rider U. Presents Sheila Callaghan's CRUMBLE: LAY ME DOWN, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE Thru April 7

By Samantha Reed

Author Sheila Callaghan can certainly be considered experimental, but she is certainly no stranger to high praise. In 2010 she was named by Marie Claire as one of "18 Successful Women Who Are Changing the World". She's been published by Playscripts, Inc., Samuel French Inc. as well as many others, and her plays have been produced internationally in New Zealand, Norway, Germany, Portugal and the Czech Republic. She has written over ten plays, her most well known being Dead City. It wasn't Dead City, though, that made Rider University faculty member Ivan Fuller want to direct a Callaghan piece, it was the darkness of Crumble: Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake that caught his attention.

Crumble follows the story of eleven year old Janice, played by Maeve Lynskey, as she unhealthily deals with witnessing the untimely death of her father that occurred a year ago, last Christmas. Janice and her Mother, played by Serena Venditto live inside a dilapidated, conscious Apartment played by Eric Dann, who's constantly got murder on the mind. The heavy drama through out the play is balanced by necessary moments of comic relief, for example, Mother, who suffers from continual panic attacks, uses her baking skills to keep her busy, and visits from Aunt Barbara, played by Aly Julian, who takes care of 57 cats. The only comfort this broken family has are visits from their celebrity crushes, a flying Justin Timberlake for Janice and Harrison Ford for Mother, played by Tom Garvin. These comedic blurbs might sound a bit extravagant, but they're needed to counter act the drama of a pre teen girl plotting a plan to ruin what's left of her and her Mother's lives forever.

Dr. Ivan Fuller joined the Rider faculty last year as a Professor of Theatre, the Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance and as the Associate Dean of the School of Fine and Performing Arts. You might remember him as the host of Rider's production of Live from Lawrenceville, It's Saturday Night!, recently presented through the Tau Eta chapter of Alpha Psi Omega on Rider's campus. Last year, Dr. Fuller directed the east coast premier of his show Awake in Me at Rider, which, although is also a drama, is a far cry from the dramatic fantasies of Crumble. Dr. Fuller chose to do Crumble at Rider this year because it's truly unlike anything else. He's said, "I've been a big fan of this script since first reading it several years ago. There's a completely fresh, new voice in the writing that I hadn't experienced before. The dark humor, gripping pathos and beautiful language all came together for me in a very moving way. And I wanted to expose my students to a kind of theater that goes far beyond the main-stream. This show stands out in stark contrast to the other shows in Rider's season this year." The remaining shows of this semester at Rider include Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, as well as a student directed production of Almost, Maine.

Assistant director and Rider student Lauren Wood agrees that she has learned so much about theatre and directing while working on this piece with the cast and with Dr. Fuller. She also said, "Crumble has helped my assistant directing experience because it is a show about grief and extreme emotion. It is really easy to do too much with it. I think that it was important to know when less is more. Crumble taught me a lot about levels."

Both Dr. Fuller and Lauren complimented their cast on the way they worked so hard on this challenging script, which in essence was one of the reasons Dr. Fuller chose to do Crumble in the first place. Dr. Fuller said, "I was looking for actors who could give me the emotional depth of these characters while also bringing a spirit of adventure to their work. And they also needed to be able to present some characters who are distant from their own ages. The cast has been great and the reward, as an educator, has been watching them grow so quickly into these challenging roles." Lauren added, "I realized how far they have come from the framework of the script into making these characters their own. They have all put so much work into it; whether it is playing three characters at once, or merging into household objects!"

Crumble: Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake is a breath taking piece of fascinating indie theatre that is sure to evoke myriad emotions and wonderful responses from anyone in the audience. It should be noted that Crumble is presented with intent for mature audiences only.

Crumble performs in Rider University's Spitz Theatre on Thursday, 4/4 at 7:30, Friday, 4/5 at 7:30, Saturday, 4/6 at 2:00 and 7:30, and Sunday, 4/7 at 2:00. Tickets are $10 for students/seniors and $20 for adults. They are available for purchase in person at the box office, via phone at 609-896-7775, and online.

For more information on Crumble, purchasing tickets, and the arts at Rider, please visit http://www.rider.edu/wcc/events/theatre-crumble.

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