CSC Theatre concludes showings of the play, “Moosleute”

CHADRON – The Chadron State College Theatre Department conclude their showings of
the spring play, “Moosleute”. The play is a contemporary moss fable inspired by Germanic
folklore but told with a modern twist. The play, which is an original production, is a
collaborative piece created by the small cast, crew and directed by Professor Brian Grob.

Moosleute is a play that follows the story of three “moss-born” characters as they navigate
their world and all the tempting vices and habits. These mythical characters start off in a
childlike state and all alone before encountering distractions that take them away from
nature. Characters Titter Twig and Munchmere after their symbolic birth discover the joys
of phone/social media and food respectively and get lost in it. They are eventually pulled
out of their trance by Felimora, who manages to fight off the addictions. They all become
friends and Felimora teaches them a way to use these devices to build community rather
than isolating themselves. The play teaches a very important lesson of community and
being present.

Lyndsay James, who plays Munchmere, talks about the thought process behind the play’s
creation. She draws her inspiration from looking at the everyday lives of college students
that are far from home who look for a safety or comfort device that later builds into an
obsession. While James and the team stick to phone and food obsessions, she references
all other sorts of coping mechanisms that develop into addictions that are prevalent in
modern America. She references a line from the play where Titter Twig calls the phone their
best friends, saying it was to represent one being attached to the object due to fear of
reaching out to make friends. Director Grob adds that connection is at the core of human
needs, which is what they wanted to highlight in this play.

“A very basic human need is connection, but in order to have connections in a meaningful
way, it requires vulnerability,” said Grob. “…we can find that connection if we’re willing to
put ourselves out there and be vulnerable”.

This play also serves as the theatrical debut for Felimora’s actress, Abby Grob, who shares
her experience working on a play where majority of the storytelling relies on the body
language. Even seasoned actor Kynlea Boomer, who plays Titter Twig, explains that it’s not
a steady performance scale due to the nature of the drama.

The cast all worked, individually, to bring their characters and story to life. The behind-the-
scenes production also entails team efforts not just from theatre staff and students, but
from the general campus and some community members, like Paul McKinley, CSC Print
Shop, Angel Perez, and many more.

“It was a really great experience and a really wonderful opportunity,” said McKinley. “it was
definitely a much more collaborative group effort to every single thing from the set to the
paint to the costumes to the lights to the makeup. It was a very collaborative sort of CSC
event.”

Though this concludes the spring schedule, the theatre departments hopes to gain more
traction for future plays.