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The idea of a play within a play dates all the way back to Shakespeare’s time, but it’s never been done like it was in CNY Playhouse’s “Spacebar: A Broadway Play by Kyle Sugarman.” Featuring promiscuous scenes about a tavern in space and a woman who can only speak in the future tense, “Spacebar” is a far cry from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

“It’s an escape from reality,” said Teagan Brown, a senior at Syracuse University and lead actress in “Spacebar.”

The CNY Playhouse is the home of a Syracuse community theater group that puts on a wide range of shows, from “Hamlet” to “Our Town.” “Spacebar”, which CNY Playhouse will put on from Sept. 9 to 17, follows a boy named Kyle Sugarman and his attempts to have his original play produced on Broadway. The play-within-the-play is about a bar in space set in the year 9003 and the myriad of unique characters within.

“The play is both hilarious and heartbreaking,” said director Novis Fuller. “Watching ​​the brilliant, nuanced performances of these actors has been one of the most uplifting things I’ve experienced in ages.”

The show is primarily a comedy, but it also has elements of heartbreak and grief. The protagonist loses family members at a young age and struggles to cope with their absence throughout the show. Though themes of perseverance and family are present in the show, the true heartbeat of the plot is the struggle of adolescence.

One of the major characters of the show is Jessica, Kyle’s love interest, who is played by Brown. Though this is her first performance at CNY Playhouse, Brown has been acting since she was a child and feels at home onstage.

“Even though I’m not studying any kind of performance art in college, I continue with it because it has been an absolute constant in my life and it has gotten me through so much,” Brown said.

The “Spacebar” cast cultivated a kind, welcoming community, Brown said. As stated on its website, the CNY Playhouse community was started by a group of friends, and it maintains that friendly spirit to this day.

“We’ve all done shows together and have a great rapport,”said Olivia Semsel, who plays Esmeralda Happenstance in the production. “It’s a blast.”

To create “Spacebar,” the cast began read-throughs of portions of the play and were later cast in their specific roles. Brown said the auditions were very comfortable and casual, allowing the actors to add their own flair to each character. They focused on attempting to respond as the character would and truly embody their roles.

After auditions, the cast rehearsed four times a week, where the team worked scene by scene.

“The rehearsal schedule was intense in the best way,” Brown said. “We tried our absolute best to connect with each other and the creative and directing team was crucial to that, especially our director, Novis.”

As a director, Fuller is full of energy and enthusiasm in their work, Brown and Semsel said. They are also one of the first nonbinary directors in CNY theatre history, Fuller said.

“I’ve never been so celebrated by a director before, and Novis is just full of enthusiasm about every choice and idea we have,” said Semsel.

Fuller reflected that praise back on the cast, describing them as astonishingly creative and talented. Every single cast member has surprised them with some aspect of the performance, making it a magical experience, Fuller said. If they come out of the show looking like a fantastic director, Fuller said, the credit belongs to the cast.

They also emphasized the importance of the story and the many lessons it offers for the audience.

“The idea that none of us are really broken,” Fuller said. “We all want to be seen and loved for who we really are.”

Brown said that the show’s message is that anyone, regardless of age, can make their dreams come true with hard work and a clear vision. Similarly, Semsel described the show’s message as being the importance of seeking what makes you happy, not just what makes you valuable to others. With such a variety of messages and themes, this show covers a lot of ground.

The story is new to most of its audiences, Fuller said, which gives the Playhouse a great chance to expose the community to something they may not have otherwise known about.

“People won’t know what to expect when coming to see this show, which is both a blessing and a curse,” Fuller said. “Audiences love the familiar old favorites, but hearing a new story is always exciting!”

Disclaimer: Teagan Brown was a columnist for The Daily Orange. Brown no longer writes for The D.O. and has no bearing on editorial content.

Published on September 13, 2022 at 10:16 pm