Inver Hills Actors Address Mortality

is structured around the inevitability of death. However, this weekend the students of will bring the play to life.

A cast of nine student actors will perform Michael Christofer’s Pulitzer Prize winning character drama. The show explores hope, mortality and the importance of living life to its fullest.

“I’m really proud of these actors,” said Jason Gonzalez, a theatre and film instructor at Inver Hills, and the show’s director. “I’m excited to see how it all comes together.”

The story unfolds in three separate cottages on the grounds of a hospital. In each cottage, a terminally ill patient resides with his or her family. As the play progresses, each family is forced to address their loved one’s impending death.

The cast of characters includes a married couple grappling with denial, a dying man in the company of both his new lover and his ex-wife and a woman struggling with dementia.

“This play is very deep,” said Danny Polanchek, who is an elementary education major at Inver Hills and plays Joe, one of the terminal patients. “Getting a lot of those emotions is challenging."

Neverthless, Polanchek and his peers rose to the challenge.

“The characters are so well-developed and interesting,” said Gonzalez. “Just to watch that develop has been incredibly fun.”

The Shadow Box does not have a traditional plot. It takes place over the course of one night, switching between the storylines. Scenes occasionally overlap. Plotlines are intertwined with conversations between the individuals facing death and a disembodied voice, whose intrusions help the audience understand the characters.

“It’s almost like music,” said Victor Bartosiewicz, a fine arts major at Inver Hills who plays the role of Brian, a dying patient.

The Shadow Box opens at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 24 at the Fine Arts Theatre at Inver Hills Community College. Performances are also scheduled for Feb. 25, March 2 and March 3. Tickets cost $10 for adults , $5 for seniors and students and are free for Inver Hills students. For tickets, call 651-450-3253.