Theater Spotlight of the Week: Thomas Riccio

by Shawn Parikh

UTD's Theatre Department has quite a progressive production opening as I had mentioned earlier this week. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is based on 1920s German film written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. Director Thomas Riccio, who also adapted the piece, strives to create "performance immersion taking audiences into the world of small German town just after World War I." And by this, the audience pretty much gets to walk around the stage. Sounds interesting, so perfect week to spotlight him.

We begin by talking about his career and what brought him to UTD to teach and practice his theatre artistry. I ask if he has been able to succeed in mission for UTD.

He discusses what he yearns to do as a director and how he has accomplished this all over the world. I then ask what attracted him to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and how he staged this piece.

Since the performance will include, multimedia, live actors, and a walk-through environment, I ask what the audience can expect when they go see this. He describes how patrons will begin the journey in the lobby and what they will uniquely experience when they step onto the stage.

I ask what he wants the audience to walk away with thinking about, and he ends the interview by elaborating on the cast of actors.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari runs Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 & 9:15 p.m. from November 13-22 and performances are free for all. In a small village, Francis and his friend Alan visit a carnival where they meet Dr. Caligari and the somnambulist Cesare, who can supposedly see the future. Francis and his girlfriend Jane start investigating Dr. Caligari and Cesare. During their research, they learn “Caligari” is the director of an insane asylum, obsessed with the story of a medieval Dr. Caligari, who used a somnambulist to murder people as a traveling act, however not everything is as it seems.