For nearly a year, theatre arts senior Rachel Kupfer-Weinstein was always on the move. She had to be, she was directing a play.
She chose the script and decided how she was going to direct it, hand-picking every member of the production crew and cast while ensuring everything went smoothly.
“This was such an all encompassing [project that] really took every corner of my being to do,” Kupfer-Weinstein said.
Looking back now, she said she’s shocked the play went so well.
Kupfer-Weinstein’s production of “A Cat Found God” received a “glowing” response from a Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival representative, according to the theatre and dance department. Cast members Kennedy Martin and Linnaea Marks and stage manager Jenna Brock were also recognized for their work in the production.
For their performances, Martin and Marks were nominated for the Irene Ryan Acting award, a scholarship awarded to “outstanding student performers,” from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which is the national center for the performing arts, according to the Center’s website.
With a nomination for this award, Martin and Marks are now eligible to apply for the scholarship by auditioning at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.
Brock won the Certificate of Merit, also from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, for her work as stage manager.
A lot of work was put in by all involved to make an award-winning production like this from start to finish.
The Cal Poly theatre and dance department puts on one student-directed production each year. Knowing that she wanted to have this opportunity, Kupfer-Weinstein started searching for plays over winter break 2022. She read through 30 to 40 scripts before deciding on “A Cat Found God.”
Written by Benjamin Sulzberger, “A Cat Found God” follows four college students whose house is inexplicably ripped from the ground and thrown into space. One of the characters has a dream that their cat walks out of the house and leads him to God and the next morning the cat is gone. The characters work to figure out where the cat went while navigating life in space and the play ends with a note of uncertainty.
“It kind of ended up being this wonderful representation of the ability for humans to have a conflict, resolve them or not, but just under the understanding that there are different viewpoints in the world and that’s okay,” Kupfer-Weinstein said.
Once Kupfer-Weinstein was selected to direct the show, she recruited Brock to be her stage manager and they started production meetings in the summer to plan out the work ahead. They set up a GoFundMe page to fundraise the $370 needed for the production.
The cast was selected fall 2023 and was made up of a theatre arts major, an art and design major, a mechanical engineering major and a liberal studies major.
Martin and Marks both went into the audition hoping to get the character that they felt matched their personality and typical roles most closely. Martin, who described herself as spiritual and a cat lover, wanted the role of Kim, while Marks thought she would be best suited to play Amy due to her more “cynical” nature.
Instead they got the opposite roles that they were expecting.
“It was a big surprise, but it was really fun,” Martin said.
The cast had two months to prepare the one hour play before it went on stage in December 2023, practicing two hours a day for four days a week. They focused a lot on character building during these rehearsals.
“It almost felt like its own class because [Rachel] would just teach us so many strategies and drills and methods to find our characters or like to be able to relate to them,” Marks said. “That made it a lot more interesting than if we were just practicing, going home, like over and over again.”
At the beginning of each rehearsal, the group did a reflection exercise called “Rose, Thorn and Book.” In this exercise, they would go around the room and each share something good (the rose), something not so good (the thorn) and something they learned that day (the book).
“Everyone was very open and just willing to share, so it was really fun,” Martin said.
Through these types of exercises, the group said they built meaningful relationships with each other over the course of the quarter. For them, the team started to feel like family.
“Rachel and I are mom and dad and [the cast] are our kids,” Brock said.
Marks added that she had a sibling-like relationship with the rest of the cast.
Before each performance, Kupfer-Weinstein and Brock would sit outside the door greeting people as they came in to see the show. Brock said these small moments meant a lot to her.
“If it wasn’t for [Rachel], I don’t know where I would have been or how I would have felt about being a part of this production,” Brock said. “She made it feel like home.”
In December, the show was finally ready to hit the stage in the Black Box Theatre in the H.P. Davidson Music Center (Bldg 45). For Kupfer-Weinstein, her favorite moment was opening night.
Kupfer-Weinstein introduced the show then sat in the audience to watch the show, finding a seat on the right side of the room. When she heard the first laugh come from the audience, she knew all their work had paid off.
“I couldn’t stop smiling. I just smiled from the first laugh all the way to the end because I was like, this is a good show. I am so proud of these people,” Kupfer-Weinstein said. “I am someone who really gets a lot of enjoyment from seeing other people succeed and having their moment. I just really enjoy seeing people get their flowers, and so that was so, so special.”
Everyone involved in the production said they enjoyed the experience. Brock, a theatre arts junior, wants to direct the student show next year and has already chosen the play she wants to produce. If Brock is selected, Martin will be her stage manager.
“I have this in my back pocket and now I can move on to bigger things,” Brock said.