Like other academic departments, Macalester’s Theater and Dance Program (THDA) requires its majors to participate in one of two options in order to graduate: a semester-long capstone project that culminates as an in-depth research paper, or an Honors Project, which is a lengthier, year-long endeavor that takes the form of a larger-scale project.
This latter option is what THDA senior Nick Suchomel ’25 chose during the spring of their junior year. Suchomel took it upon himself to write and direct his very own production, entitled “A Forgotten Mind,” a process he found “rewarding” and “really wonderful.”
Initial development took place last spring, with the brunt of writing occurring throughout the summer. Casting auditions were subsequently held in the early fall of 2024, and rehearsal schedules were also refined throughout that semester.
“It was just a lot of finding people, getting recommendations from different people around the [THDA] department, seeing if people were interested,” Suchomel said. “Then finding the right person who’s really, really excited at an opportunity to both design something but also design something that’s pretty unique compared to a lot of productions that we usually have here.”
The dreaded tech week period transformed into an intense but productive four days as the cast and crew prepped to perform Suchomel’s art to the broader Macalester community.
According to Suchomel, the production’s cast and crew consisted primarily of Mac community members, with the majority of the creative work almost exclusively student-driven. Additionally, the show contained many tech-intensive, highly choreographed scenes that drove the story forward, and therefore required a lot of precision and effort.
Suchomel describes the narrative structure as starting off traditional, with “two white male characters in a room talking” about general topics, when one of their wives, Sarah, comes in and says some “mildly concerning” things. This leads the two men, one of whom is a psychologist, to believe Sarah is suffering from hysteria. After this introduction, “the whole show breaks away from that traditional world to reveal how the world actually functions,” where the world’s physical aspects change based on the predominant emotion felt by any of the characters. It is later revealed that Sarah, the play’s protagonist, primarily controls this narrative via her emotional state, with various dance and fight sequences following her navigation through this emotional journey.
Throughout the writing process, Suchomel wanted to write something more explicitly referential to certain emotional aesthetics, with the story morphing into a commentary on societal anxieties with a particular emphasis on world-building and challenging traditionalist views of art.
Inspired by the work of playwright Alice Childress, Suchomel wanted this carefully crafted world to shatter before both the characters’ and audience’s eyes, citing other forms of media like “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and “Into the Spider Verse” as other major influences on the project.
Within the world of “A Forgotten Mind,” Suchomel discussed that they wanted their story to contain problematic themes that would then be challenged by the characters and the shifting world around them. In particular, he expressed how much fun it was to write the main character, Sarah, and how new it was for him to conduct an emotional exploration of her character. As a character, Sarah was described as “existing outside of the audience experience,” and Suchomel found that despite being different from previous protagonists they’ve written, Sarah resonated with them a lot more.
On the emotionality of the themes and subject matter within the story, Suchomel said, “I’ve always seen stories as very emotional entities in general, and that’s always the part I found really interesting about them. So, when I was starting this project, I needed to write something new.”
As for being both writer and director of his own play, Suchomel had this to say: “I really like[d] the opportunity to do both. I think I tend to gravitate a little bit more towards writing than directing, but this experience has been really valuable.” Suchomel found that both writing and directing allowed them to interact with their own work on a deeper level, and being able to see how the two creative processes interacted with one another was unique and invaluable.
Most of all, Suchomel was grateful to have such a willing, talented cast and production crew.
“The actors did a phenomenal job,” he said. “The amount of things that they’ve learned, and the amount of time that they’ve had to learn them, it’s insane how talented they all are, and the eagerness. It’s really, really impressive.”
Suchomel added, “I don’t think a single person that I worked with didn’t have an incredible amount of passion, both for the project and things that they were doing.” They lauded Jess Mallory ’28, who played Sarah, and expressed gratitude toward their set designers, who envisioned ideas beyond Suchomel’s imagination that worked out perfectly for the story. “They really were a lot of the reason that it was able to be at the level that it was,” said Suchomel.
In terms of future creative projects from Suchomel, he expressed interest in writing a horror play that challenges traditional conventions within the horror genre, as well as a Hamlet spoof called “Hamomelet” in which all of the characters are different ingredients in an omelet, with a spiteful twist.
Suchomel’s play was sold out for both of its performances on Friday, Feb. 14 and Saturday, Feb. 15.
Nicholas Miller ’25* weighed in with his review of the show, saying, “I thought the diegetic music was unique and distinctive to what Suchomel would produce, the dialogue was gripping and the acting was superb.”
Evan Boswell ’25 had this to say of the production: “It’s clever, witty, charming, intense, creative, frightening — really the only thing you can’t say is it’s boring. It’s one of the most discussion-provoking theater plays I’ve seen in a long time.”
*Nicholas Miller is a staff puzzler for The Mac Weekly.
