New show comes to the Kenan Theater with 'a conversation to be had across generations'

Art can serve many functions, and in the Kenan Theatre Company's upcoming production, "Indeed, friend!" which runs from Feb. 27 through March 2, it can serve as a time capsule. 

"Indeed, friend!" revolves around the work of students in the office of an undergraduate literary magazine, set in the 2001-2002 academic year. 

For Talya Klein, the director of the show, the setting has led to some illuminating conversations with students about the parallels between 2001 and now.

"Things feel like they're shifting very radically, and so I think there's a kinship there, and a conversation to be had across generations," Klein said. 

Emily Morgan, a senior who plays Apple in the production, said what drew the cast to the play when selecting their season was the relationship between the characters and the events in the world around them. Morgan said the play has also led her to examine just how much the world has changed since she entered college in 2016. 

"I think college is a weird time because you're faced with the world very suddenly, but then also you still have to keep living a life," Morgan said. "And I think it's a really well-explored part of what this play does ... these characters are just trying to live their lives, but also in a world that is very suddenly, drastically altered by a terror and a tragedy and intense Islamophobia." 

The backdrop of a changing world is something Sam Bible-Sullivan, a junior and producer for the production, also said he feels makes the play relevant to the UNC community. 

"I hope the audience takes away that no matter what happens, it's always important to maintain a strong circle around you, of people who can support you and people who you can grow from," Bible-Sullivan said. 

Klein said the play also presents questions about what fame and success look like after you leave school. In one scene, the characters discuss where they want to be in five years.

"It gets real," Klein said. "At a certain point, we're going to leave school, and we're going to have to support ourselves, and we're going to get jobs, and we might distance ourselves from our friends, or have a complete change of heart, or a different career path or things might not turn out the way we had planned."

Part of what makes the play special is the audience participation that Klein said the playwright insisted be included. 

"Like it's very consensual and also slightly scripted, but like, the idea is that it's a really fun experiment," Klein said.

Ultimately, while the play is about poetry, Klein said it feels much more like a play about the relationships that people have with art and the gatekeepers who control the art people get to see. 

"I don't think people have seen anything like it," Klein said. "And I think it's surprising and delightful, and unusual and thought-provoking and kind of beautifully mundane."

arts@dailytarheel.com