Mar 14, 2019

Central New Mexico Community College’s Theatre Department is proud to present “Not a Robot (humans wrote this)”, beginning March 22 at CNM’s Coal Avenue Theatre. “Not a Robot” is composed of 14 new comic and dramatic short works written by CNM students in the Intro to Playwriting Class. It is directed by CNM faculty member Susan Erickson. An ensemble of 11 CNM actors will play 57 diverse and entertaining characters.

These humans are not afraid to share their sorrows, their joys, their longings, their sense of fun and their wonder at the challenge of being alive. And these creative Theatre students are able to hone their writing skills and develop a plan for a successful production.

“When I wrote my piece, I was very excited about how I wanted it to look,” says Theatre student and playwright Anastacia MacArthur. “I brought my writing to class and talked to Susan (Erickson) and we combined our ideas of how we could make it into a production, and it turned out better than I had even thought it could. I can’t wait for people to see it.”

CNM students learn the ins and outs of producing a live performance, as well as the importance of artistic collaboration.

Gus Tafoya is a student in CNM's Theatre Program and is both an assistant director and a playwright.

“Producing brand new plays is challenging and exhilarating,” said Erickson, faculty member and director. “We, the cast and crew, have no previous productions, reviews, articles, or information to research or learn from when mounting these new works. We have to be artistically awake every second. Bringing a brand-new play to life is a collaboration of many, and our writers are putting their trust in us to produce the plays they wrote. We take that seriously.”

Bella Figueroa, theatre student and actor, is performing in five out of the 14 short plays and says that being able to play an array of different characters is helping her to explore a wide range of artistic emotion.

“It’s really fun building these characters. I get to be dramatic in one play and comedic in another,” says Bella. “We get to create a new world every time we do another play. It’s so much fun to be someone different every time you go onstage.”

Bella Figueroa (left) delivers a powerful, dramatic performance. She is acting in five of the 14 plays.

CNM’s Theatre program focuses on creating theatrical productions as well as training students to use theatrical skill sets such as design, research, performance and collaboration. The program introduces students to the basics of theatre, acting, and production.

“Not a Robot (humans wrote this)” runs for two weekends beginning March 22. It will take place Friday and Saturday nights (March 22, 23, 29, and 30) at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees (March 24 and 31) at 2 p.m. All performances will take place at CNM’s Coal Avenue Theatre (The CAT), which is located on Coal Avenue between University Boulevard and Buena Vista Drive. Tickets are $5, general admission.

For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.cnm.edu/cat.