“Lacuna Park” is the story of a motley assortment of people who find themselves in the very same strange and fantastical place—the eponymous park. Each one of them conceals a mysterious past that is at least partially exposed as the plot unfolds. When a stranger arrives in Lacuna Park one day, he finds himself to be one of many enigmatic “lost souls” with both secrets to hide and to still uncover. The young man is waiting for the resolution of a conflict that has lasted all his life. Other characters, a young woman and two men, will explore their distorted perceptions of their own identities. “[These characters] are all searching or waiting for the resolution of long drawn-out conflicts within themselves,” said Shepp, who himself is enigmatic in describing his thesis project.
The play grapples with the extent to which human beings are responsible for their own fates. While some would suggest that they are all in Lacuna Park by chance or destiny, it becomes increasingly apparent that these people are not victims, but architects of their own fates; the play catches them in the middle of their conflicts, between, according to Shepp, “their fatal choices and the ultimate consequences of these choices.”
The shroud of mystery that veils these characters likewise envelops their world. As befitting the home of such inhabitants, Lacuna Park is a place of fiction and fantasy; in one vein of the plot, two characters actually come in contact with a mermaid. “Despite the presence of the fantastical in this world, the rules of causality in Lacuna Park function as much as they do in reality: often indirectly, and always influenced by the despair inherent in the human condition—that is to say, the unavoidable matter of choice,” said Shepp.
The theater and dance major actually began work on the play with the idea of the alternate-reality world—“Lacuna” literally means “missing information.” In fact, it was the covered-up fountain across from Amherst’s own Black Sheep that inspired him last winter with the story of what would eventually culminate in the two characters’ confrontation with the mermaid. “I imagined someone coming across such a fountain with such a cover and, not knowing what it was, turning it into something entirely different,” Shepp explained. He explained that the central story developed “almost accidentally,” as he allowed different characters to appear and interact, evolving to their final states along the way. The initial composition of the play began this past July with the final revisions completed shortly before tonight.
Of course, with theatrical productions, the work does not end with the last line written, but with the last line performed. Auditions for roles were held last December and rehearsals began in late January. Although the audition period can be an understandably anxious time for playwrights, Shepp said that he is very pleased with his cast. “While not embodying the characters exactly as I saw them in my head, [they] brought new life to them and opened my eyes to things I had not previously realized about them.”
Professor emeritus Michael Birtwistle served as director of the production and Amherst College Playwright-In-Residence Constance Congdon acted both as Shepp’s advisor and as the dramaturg for the play. Shepp credits both Birtwistle and Congdon for including him in the production process and for really trying to remain faithful to his original vision as a playwright.
Shepp admitted it would be hard to predict viewer response for his play, which is advertised as a piece that concerns romance, religious hysteria, vendetta and “even a mermaid” in press releases. Shepp expects and hopes many viewers will be confused in the sense that they will leave the play with more questions than answers. “I hope that Lacuna Park will find a personal, human connection with each member of its audience, that it will inspire them both to feel and think and to ask themselves the same questions that drive the action of the play,” he said. At the end of the arduous thesis process, Shepp is most proud of the “intellectual depth” and “intuitive human truth” in his play and hopes that these qualities connect with his audience.
The play has undergone many changes and is finally ready for showing. Said Shepp of the final product, “[It] is a mystery, a romance, an existential anti-drama and an absurd comedy all rolled into one. It’s funny, but also sad. At least, that’s what I’m going for.”