SNAPSHOT
SNAPSHOT
Opened Friday Nov 8th, 2023
Humanities and Performing Arts Center, Studio Theatre
Campus of the University of South Carolina, Upstate, Spartanburg, SC.
Original Production
199o’s
Dowling College, Oakdale, NY
with semi-professional actors:
Woman – Pam Zwiebel
Man – Mark Ingrassia
Child – Linda Holleran
Directed by the Author
The play takes place in the mind of the child, now an adult, remembering the last days of his parents lives. The child remembers, and as he does, the parents come to life in chilling, sharp images that penetrate what it means to grow old, the interpersonal relationships we have to our parents, and the common human thread we share together.
Images, like a movie of one’s life shot in quick, transformational snapshots, reflect their parent/child/spouse relationships, the mystery and swiftness of life, and the ephemeral connections they shared together as the child struggles to come to terms with their deaths. Each moment, despite how long it lasted, is but a snapshot of time in the scheme of things and our lives. As if we’re caught in a swift, indifferent river of time. The Child attempts to find a center to these images, memories, joys and pains, as he / she too, grows old.
The last image sums up the experience; the child grasping for air, trying to hold onto the memories of them, like photographic snapshots that hold the memory and the experience, but not the flesh.
REVIEW FROM AN ACTOR IN THE PLAY
Nov 8th, 2023 – Student Production
Humanities and Performing Arts Center, Studio Theatre
Campus of the University of South Carolina, Upstate, Spartanburg, SC.
“I played Child in a small production of John Monteleone’s Snapshot at USC Upstate and marveled at the script. Snapshot helped me process my own existential dread and feeling of loss that comes with being mortal. It beautifully captures the passing of time and the cryptic process of memory.
I enjoyed the grand soliloquies that felt like modern takes on universal questions posed by playwrights going back to Shakespeare’s time and how they mixed humor and tragedy while also leaving the actor a lot of space to create their own unique take on the work.
I had a lot of fun being a baby and I loved going through both existential and personal grief on stage. The line “The dreams of yesterday have become faded memories of tomorrow” is my personal favorite, and the entire last soliloquy left me wanting to do more. Snapshot is chock full of high emotions and grand questions that any actor would love to sink their teeth into.
I highly recommend people to read the script and create their own interpretations; there’s always more to discover in a work as complex and multilayered as this.”
Samuel Bass
Student Actor
SNAPSHOT
Opened Friday Nov 8th, 2023
Humanities and Performing Arts Center, Studio Theatre
Campus of the University of South Carolina, Upstate, Spartanburg, SC.
Original Production
199o’s
Dowling College, Oakdale, NY
with semi-professional actors:
Woman – Pam Zwiebel
Man – Mark Ingrassia
Child – Linda Holleran
Directed by the Author
The play takes place in the mind of the child, now an adult, remembering the last days of his parents lives. The child remembers, and as he does, the parents come to life in chilling, sharp images that penetrate what it means to grow old, the interpersonal relationships we have to our parents, and the common human thread we share together.
Images, like a movie of one’s life shot in quick, transformational snapshots, reflect their parent/child/spouse relationships, the mystery and swiftness of life, and the ephemeral connections they shared together as the child struggles to come to terms with their deaths. Each moment, despite how long it lasted, is but a snapshot of time in the scheme of things and our lives. As if we’re caught in a swift, indifferent river of time. The Child attempts to find a center to these images, memories, joys and pains, as he / she too, grows old.
The last image sums up the experience; the child grasping for air, trying to hold onto the memories of them, like photographic snapshots that hold the memory and the experience, but not the flesh.
REVIEW FROM AN ACTOR IN THE PLAY
Nov 8th, 2023 – Student Production
Humanities and Performing Arts Center, Studio Theatre
Campus of the University of South Carolina, Upstate, Spartanburg, SC.
“I played Child in a small production of John Monteleone’s Snapshot at USC Upstate and marveled at the script. Snapshot helped me process my own existential dread and feeling of loss that comes with being mortal. It beautifully captures the passing of time and the cryptic process of memory.
I enjoyed the grand soliloquies that felt like modern takes on universal questions posed by playwrights going back to Shakespeare’s time and how they mixed humor and tragedy while also leaving the actor a lot of space to create their own unique take on the work.
I had a lot of fun being a baby and I loved going through both existential and personal grief on stage. The line “The dreams of yesterday have become faded memories of tomorrow” is my personal favorite, and the entire last soliloquy left me wanting to do more. Snapshot is chock full of high emotions and grand questions that any actor would love to sink their teeth into.
I highly recommend people to read the script and create their own interpretations; there’s always more to discover in a work as complex and multilayered as this.”
Samuel Bass
Student Actor
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