Theatre Dept. Spreads Awareness with ‘Mother & Sons’

Gloria Aguilar | Pulse

As the first production draws near today through Sunday, the Theatre Department is preparing the opportunity to reenact the private lives of same-sex marriages to spread awareness. 

Richard Edmondson, director of Mothers and Sons, decided to showcase empathy and relevance through the history of same-sex marriages to adopt kids and live ordinary lives. 

“This show is exciting because it’s very character driven,” Edmondson said.

Mothers and Sons will showcase the intricacies of personal relationships between homosexual couples, family and  loss. The show highlights the aftermath of individuals dealing with the AIDS epidemic and grief. 

“There’s a lot of information about getting into the private lives of these people … to understand these characters, root for them and hopefully feel empathy for them,” Edmondson said.

Aaron Guerrero, a theatre freshman, who plays Bud Ogden-Porter said the play contributes to society and communities because it “brings awareness.”

“[Same-sex couples] go through the same struggles as [heterosexual people]  do and at the end of the day, this play talks a lot about love, too,” Guerrero said.  

Domingo Lara, a biology and theatre senior, who plays Will Ogden, said another way the play contributes to society and the UTRGV community is through highlighting “the issues of some misconceptions of AIDS.”

Lara said ‘Mothers and Sons’ uplifts challenges the LGBTQ+ community faces on a day to day basis.

A major factor when creating a six week production involved Edmonson directing the actors to develop their performances to engage the audience in reflecting on the topics covered throughout the play.

“I really want the audience to be able to absorb and enjoy the show and then have good conversations afterwards,” Edmondson said. “It’s meant to make us think and really try to sort out what it means to be a family and part of a family.”

In addition, another factor to creating a good production involved selecting actors and setting a schedule for everyone’s availability. 

According to Edmondson, good work ethic is one of the first things he looked for when casting ‘Mothers and Sons’ actors.

The actors rehearse five days out of the week on scheduled time directed by Edmondson. However, the students show commitment to their production by deciding to put in more of their personal time to rehearse. 

Guerrero said the actors “collectively decided” to rehearse up to seven days out of the week.

The actors shared that this commitment isn’t challenging since they use theatre as motivation for school. 

Lara shares that rehearsing  for the show acts as a “stress reliever” from his daily schoolwork. “It’s tough, but for some reason when I’m reading the script it consumes me,” he said. “The motivation to finish all my assignments to get to the script.” 

While for Guerrero, getting involved in theatre gave him a reason to stay in school,“I remember back then I didn’t want to be in school, but this time it feels right.” 

Jorge Sepulveda, a theatre (design technical) junior, is one of the assistant managers for the production, said the “love” for theatre and their roles in the production is what motivates the cast. 

For Sepulveda, theatre is not just a hobby. He plans on making theatre part of his future as he plans to educate future students on how to operate behind the scenes.

“I’ve always liked [theatre] a lot,” he said. “I really want to do [theatre design technicals] in the future. I really want to learn from my professors as much as I can, the more I pick up the better I can be for the future.” 

Lara said, going over lines, giving constructive feedback to one another and building relationships during their six-weeks together is what made the cast become a family. 

“We’re a family,” he said. “The amount of rehearsals we’ve already had just helps us grow more closer.” 

To learn more about showtimes and performances visit  Theatre Department’s website.