Student’s final project

Laureen F. Guenther
Times Contributor

 

Brynn Linsey, a final-year student at Rosebud School of the Arts (RSA), presents Holy Mo as her Final Project, July 23 to 26.
“Holy Mo is the story of Moses as told by three vagabond clowns named Follie, Bufoona and Guff,” Linsey said. “They’re very funny, very human characters that absolutely admire the man that is Moses and have a deep love for I AM, which is God. And they travel the world telling the story of Moses.”
Audience members will relate to the three clowns because they’re like people we all know, she said. Follie (played by Linsey) is a planner, a very strong personality. Bufoona (Cassia Schramm) is a “goofball”. Guff (Alix Cowman) doesn’t speak but makes sure everything else works.
“The three characters … go right up to the audience and they ask them questions and they give them things and they make music together and it’s very very much interactive,” Linsey said.
Holy Mo “is very deeply playful in so many ways, and then you’ll have these moments in the play that are serious,” she said. “They find themselves wondering how this deep love (they have) for God and the love that He has for us works into the story and the challenges we face as Christians.”
That blend of playfulness and seriousness made Linsey want to do this play.
“I find myself as a young Christian in the world wondering about how I integrate my faith – which seems so serious and solemn and massive – into my daily life. And how I can enjoy my life knowing that there’s pain in the world,” she said. “I find myself often forgetting how important relationship and laughter is.”
Producing the show is pushing Linsey to grow through in some big ways.
“I’m a very shy person,” she said, so she’s had to grow in the confidence to market her show, inviting people to see it. Because of her shyness, “I (also) really had to learn and come to terms with really being vocal about my faith,” she said.
Beyond the laughter and the questions, Linsey wants her Final Project to be an expression of gratitude. “Holy Mo, for me, is a thank you to all of the people that have come see me in shows and have been brave enough and heartfelt enough to approach me and say thank you,” she said. It’s for people who have “supported the company and that have supported the school and donated their time, their money, their prayer, their hearts to this organization and to the students.”
Holy Mo plays in Rosebud’s Akokiniskway Gallery July 23 at 5 p.m.; July 24 at 11:30 a.m.; July 25 at 5 p.m.; and July 26 at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Pre-order $10 tickets through the “Holy Mo by Lucia Frangione” Facebook page, by e-mailing shipsunday@gmail.com, or by calling 403-820-0238. $12 tickets are also available at the door.