Shadowcast has been a part of campus life for quite some time now. For those unfamiliar with what a shadowcast is, it is when actors perform the scenes from a movie while the movie is played in the background. Stevens Dramatic Society has put on eight entertaining Rocky Horror shows, as well as a couple of spring shows. Because of this increasing growth of the Shadowcast Committee of SDS, it has become its own RSO, named the Midnight Movie Movement. Robin Hood Men in Tights was the third annual spring Shadowcast, as well as the first show that the MMM has put on since becoming a club. The production was dedicated to a former shadowcast actor, Bryan Fitzpatrick.
Just like Rocky, Robin Hood encouraged audience participation; however Robin Hood moved away from the audience participation lines and instead allowed the audience to be more interactive with the show. The audience could have simply sat back and enjoyed the show, however the actors were running through the audience, climbing over students, and sent arrows flying through the crowd. For the bolder audience members, the first row and the aisle seats, also known as the “splash zone,” was the perfect seating, as it allowed them to sword fight and interact with the actors.
The MMM chose the material to work with, so it was expected that the event was going to draw a successful crowd. Yet, this didn’t prevent the cast and crew from going above and beyond by taking their own spin on the production and making it unique. The show was lively and there was a plethora of things to watch, especially the fight scenes that were happening all around the room in Burchard 118. The hard work put into the production was evident, which excited not only the actors, but also the audience. The livelier the cast became, the more fired up the audience got, as they cheered for Robin Hood, Ahchoo, and Blinkin. At the end of the night, both the audience and the cast shared laughs and a good time. If the success of this production is a forecast for the future of the Midnight Movie Movement, then it is safe to say it will be an entertaining future.
