“Morning, Noon, Evening, Night,” a play by Colorado Mesa University Assistant Professor Matthew Schlief, was presented from Friday, Aug. 23 through Sunday, Aug. 25, at the Moss Performing Arts Center.
First presented at the Prague Quadrennial in June, the play uses bone-conducting headphones to transmit the thoughts of an average college student, played by Christina Proper, to the audience. The play seeks to give an in-depth look into the mind of a student and their average struggles and ambitions.
The audience was restricted to only 20 people because of a limited supply of headphones. Despite the limited size, it is estimated that more than 200 people attended this event. Attendance was free, though a five dollar donation was encouraged.
Schlief and Proper opened their unique production on Friday, Aug. 23, with shows at 6 a.m., 12 p.m., 6 p.m. and 12 a.m., each in 20-minute increments. The play continued on Saturday Aug. 24 and Sunday, Aug. 25.
Depending on the show, the plot changed, but it mainly focused on the thoughts of the protagonist, as she stressed out about graduation, friendships, and the prospect of leaving town.
One of the noon showings told the story of our protagonist contemplating how she got it all together for her final semester, despite not graduating until three months after the events of the play.
She struggles with the prospect of going to Northwestern or the Denver Post and struggles with how to tell her friends and the kids she’s babysitting that she might be leaving Grand Junction. The climax of this story involves her going to Lowell Heiny Hall to pay off her student fees, but forgetting her check in the car.
