Black Box Players

Afrikaans word of the week: Jol [jawl] is a term used for ‘party’ or to ‘have fun’. Eg. ‘We had a jol last night!’

And that is exactly what we did over the weekend. The Black Box Players is one of the clubs at MC, and every year around this time they organize a trip to New York City where we go and see two productions.

We started off our Saturday meeting at Union Station around 05:00, where we got on a MegaBus and traveled to NYC. Upon our arrival, we made our way to 67^th street where we got acquainted with Julliard and the Lincoln Center. At 13:30 we walked to the Roundabout Theater where we saw an Off-Broadway play, Bobbie Clearly, where “something unspeakable happened in the middle of a cornfield two years ago”. Now, at last, the upstanding residents of Milton, Nebraska—from the cop and the nurse to the co-captains of the dance team and even Bobbie himself—are ready to tell you their sides of the story.” (https://www.roundabouttheatre.org/Shows-Events/Bobbie-Clearly.aspx)

We had the great opportunity to meet the director, Will Davis (https://www.wmjdavis.com/about/), after the show and ask him questions about the production and his career.

   
Because I had my first Starbucks in New York City, I’ve made it a tradition to always get myself a cup when I visit NYC. So after filling our tummies, we marched to the Barrymore Theatre where we saw the Broadway musical, The Band’s Visit,  where “a mix-up sends a group of Egyptian musicians to a remote Israeli town. When the locals take them in for the night, their lives intertwine in the most unexpected ways.  Fate brought them to town. Their music brought it to life.” (https://thebandsvisitmusical.com/)

After a full packed day, filled with beautiful stories and a great group of friends, we made our way back to the bus stop and made our trip back home.

I want to thank our faculty advisers Professor Ken Yatta Rogers and Scott Hengen, our club leader Gamage, Student Life, and any person that I might not have mentioned for supporting, coordinating and arranging this trip.

If you want to be a part of this club and share in the life of theater, feel free to contact Gamage @mcblackboxplayers@gmail.com

Enjoy this song from A Band’s Visit and do yourself a favor by listening to the whole soundtrack.