Mississippi State Theatre Department held auditions Jan. 17 through 19 in the McComas Lab Theatre for the next production of Liz Duffy Adam’s post-apocalyptic comedy “Dog Act.”
“Dog Act” focuses on three tribes who are trying to survive and adjust to their new lives after the apocalypse. The characters will invent a world that does not exist because there are no rules and no establishment. The three different tribes are the scavengers, the vaudevillians and a tribe of knowledge. The purpose of the vaudeville tribe is to show there will always be storytellers.
“Dog Act” has been performed less than 20 times since it was first performed in 2004. Jo Durst, the director, found the script when she attended the Southeastern Theatre Conference two years ago.
“The play is a farce that deals with dark comedy,” Durst said. “It is different from what someone would expect from theatre.”
“Dog Act” will feature a few songs even though it is not considered a musical. The instruments will be hand made. Melanie Harris, costume designer, asked Mandy Hackman, a senior majoring in English and theatre, what she would use to make a drum.
“Most of the songs go at an excellent pace, and they are not Broadway quality,” Harris said.
Rebekah McFerran, a sophomore secondary education major, said she believes “Dog Act” is coming out at the perfect time.
“The apocalypse has recently been a popular topic since it is 2012. A lot of things in pop culture have focused on the apocalypse for the past few years such as ‘The Hunger Games,’ ‘The Road’ and ‘The Walking Dead,'” McFerran said.
Most of the participants followed the stage directions as they recited the script for the first time. However, they occasionally laughed while auditioning due to the script’s humor. Some of the auditioners were challenged with reciting a paragraph of tongue twisters.
During the auditions, Harris sat behind a table sketching out her ideas for the costumes. Harris has a month to create the play’s wardrobe out of unusual materials. The characters adopted their names based upon the  objects they found to make their clothes. One of the sketches was a suit of armor made out of Coke cans.
“The costumes are definitely a story of its own,” Harris said. “I am trying to use zip ties with clothes because the zip ties would survive since they are made out of plastic.”
Durst and Harris have decided to use materials they think would survive the apocalypse such as plastics, leather, bamboo and metals. Recently, Harris bought tires to make some shoes that resemble the shoes her father made while serving in Vietnam.
“‘Dog Act’ will be off the wall with costumes,” Hackman said. “However, the play looks at theatre through vaudeville, and it will be interesting to see.”
The McComas Lab Theatre has 80 seats; however, Durst said she believes the play will benefit from the small environment.
“The actors will be up close and personal with the audience, and I think it will add excitement to the performance,” she said.
The production will run from Feb. 23 through 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the McComas Lab Theatre. Tickets can be purchased at the door on the nights of the performances and they can be purchased at the online box office at comm.msstate.edu/dept/theatre/ for $5 for students and $10 for general admission.