JustArts:  Tell me a bit about yourself.

Ben Greene: My name is Ben Greene, I’m a sophomore. I’m studying elementary education and computer science, and in this show I am the assistant producer. Basically …  the producer just kind of make[s] sure that everything happens. We were helping build the sets, do the marketing… We were involved in every part of the production, which has been very cool because usually I’m an actor, so this is my first time working behind the scene of a show.

JA: How did you get involved with Arcadia?

BG:  I knew that I want to learn how to produce and how to direct, and this show seemed really cool and really interesting. I really liked the other people that were working on it, so I asked if I could help to assist produce so they would train me and teach me all the things I need to know… So it’s been a very cool like learning experience as well as… just getting to see the show coming together.

JA:  Different from many other plays, Arcadia use many scientific concepts as the core of its story, such as thermodynamics and chaos theory. Was it difficult to present all of those concepts on stage?

BG: So it is definitely something the cast worked through. This script is pretty dense, but they put in a lot of work and figured out ways to kind of move around and get excited, so they make the conversations the characters have about math very dynamic. … Any conversation they’re having about math [is] very woven into the plot…. You know, it’s two casts, one cast set in the present and one cast set like a hundred years ago. And so therefore the present past is finding the math notes of this 13 year old girl from the past and finding out that she’s doing crazy advanced stuff that they only discovered 20 years ago. So it’s very cool, like they make it much more interesting than just math.

JA: What is the most rewarding aspect of producing this play?

BG: I think it’s just been getting to see it come together from every angle. Because, you know, as an actor, it would be like, “OK, we’re working on the show. I see that part” and then we show up at the sets there and it’s awesome. And now I’ve kind of gotten to be a part of helping the actors get together… helping with props, helping with building the sets. I love getting to work on like building of sets and hanging the lights and doing so much cool designs that’s the behind the scenes stuff that I never really got to do. So it’s just awesome to see every side of it come together… People are also very excited to teach me about the jobs. Like, let’s learn how to hang lights, let’s get you saw-trained, like all that really cool stuff. So I just have learned a lot and seen a lot happen. 

JA:  Is there anything else you want to add? A word to the audience?  

BG: I think just … to tell people to come see the show. It’s gonna be really awesome. And even if you are not interested in math or not interested in the classics, it’s much more just about like taking what you know and applying it to cool curiosity you have [sic] and exploring things that you’re interested in and curious about. So it’s more applicable than just a show about [math or classics].

   —Luke Liu