/news-archive/tag/gods-not-dead-3/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Wed, 01 May 2019 22:19:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /news-archive/2019/05/01/theater-of-cruelty/ Wed, 01 May 2019 22:19:31 +0000 /news/?p=74182 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock student explores 鈥渢heater of cruelty鈥�]]> 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock theater major Selena Gordon has performed in musicals, plays, and even national films, but this semester she worked to create a performance of a different kind – one meant to awaken her audiences鈥� unexpressed emotions. Gordon spent this semester creating 鈥淲ake-up!鈥� – a performance that uses overbearing sensory aspects, such as lights, sound, and gestures to stir emotions. 聽 鈥淚 wanted to make the audience confront issues that society tends to shy away from or ignore because they鈥檙e too difficult to talk about,鈥� she said. 鈥淪uch things include racism, sexual assault, gun control, mental illness, abuse, discrimination in all of its forms, and the political state of the country today.鈥� It鈥檚 all part of a 鈥渢heater of cruelty鈥� experience that Gordon created and debuted at the Fringe Festival on campus in April. Recorded excerpts from the performance also were part of Gordon’s poster presentation at the Research and Creative Works Expo on April 18 in the Jack Stephens Center. Gordon, a Fort Smith native, is a member of the Chancellor’s Leadership Corps. During her time at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, she has participated in Department of Theatre Arts and Dance productions, including 鈥淭he All Night Strut鈥� in 2017 and 鈥淎s You Like It鈥� in 2018. In 2017, Gordon also landed an acting job in the faith-based film 鈥淕od鈥檚 Not Dead 3,鈥� which was filmed in central Arkansas. Last fall, Gordon was one of about 100 undergraduates who received up to a $1,000 grant to conduct original research, creative works, and community service projects this semester as part of the Signature Experience Awards program created by Chancellor Andrew Rogerson. The awards – now in their second year – are designed to foster research and creative works among undergraduate students. Gordon proposed a project in which she would apply the theories of French dramatist Antonin Artaud, which she studied in Lawrence Smith鈥檚 Dramatic Criticism and Theory class, to a script she had written. Smith served as Gordon鈥檚 faculty mentor for the project. 鈥淚 learned about Antonin Artaud, who is the mastermind behind the idea (of theatre of cruelty), and I was instantly captured by his life and his theories,鈥� she said. 鈥淎rtaud believed that theatre had become too focused on words and that we had trapped ourselves in this box of repetitive works that had already been seen before and had been done for too many years. He wanted new works that moved people, that linked to the present world. His answer for escaping this loop was a theatre of cruelty.鈥� Selena Gordon, center, presents her “Theater of Cruelty” project to a judge during the Research and Creative Works Expo on April 18, 2019. Photo by Benjamin Krain  ]]> /news-archive/2017/10/25/theater-students-gods-not-dead-3/ Wed, 25 Oct 2017 19:51:46 +0000 /news/?p=68382 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock theater students find work on 鈥淕od鈥檚 Not Dead 3鈥�]]> Three University of Arkansas at Little Rock students landed jobs in聽 the latest installment of the faith-based film being filmed in central Arkansas.聽 Kat Hall, a junior theater major who wants to be a professional costumer, worked one day as a background costumer and was responsible for dressing the extras who were on set. One of the extras was Leah Gel茅 of Little Rock, a technical theater major who has worked with light and sound for 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock theatre productions as well as for several community theater productions in central Arkansas. 鈥淚 got involved on a whim really,鈥� Gel茅 said. 鈥淜at called me and asked if I wanted to be a homeless extra for the day. I said, 鈥楽ure! Why not?鈥� There were about 40 homeless extras there, and they just picked us when they needed us. I got picked and was able to interact with both of the main characters for a scene or two.鈥� Selena Mykenzie Gordon, a Fort Smith native majoring in theater, was cast as a 鈥渉ipster hostess鈥� in one scene and as a churchgoer in another scene. Filming, on average, ran about 11 hours a day, she said. 鈥淭he experience, for me, has been a once in a lifetime opportunity. This being my first role in a movie, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but from the moment I stepped on set everyone had a positive attitude, and it was obvious that they were all there to do something they loved and build a movie that they were passionate about. I did get the chance to meet the lead actors and talk to them when we had breaks, and the things they had to say regarding acting and schooling really impacted me, and I’ll definitely be taking the advice they gave me and applying it. 鈥淚 also got the opportunity to spend some time on set with Cissy Houston (American soul and gospel singer and the mother of singer Whitney Houston), and she is hands down the sweetest woman I have ever met with the voice of an angel.鈥� Gordon was familiar with the film series having watched the first “God’s Not Dead.” 鈥淚 loved it,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 haven’t had the chance to watch the second, but I plan on watching it before the third is released.鈥� 鈥淕od鈥檚 Not Dead 3鈥� is due for release in spring 2018. In the upper right photo,聽Selena Mykenzie Gordon is one of three 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students who recently worked on the set of “God’s Not Dead 3.” Submitted photo.]]>