Everything Nac

Residents of Nacogdoches and alumni of Stephen F. Austin State University may have a special reason to tune into the 87th Academy Awards on Feb. 22.

SFA School of Theatre alumnus Richard Robichaux appears in Richard Linklater’s landmark film “Boyhood,” which has received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director along with acting nominations for cast members Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke. The film won three Golden Globe Awards for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress for Arquette. Robichaux has the role of the boss of one of the film’s main characters.

According to his website, Robichaux is “the proud recipient of the distinguished alumni award from his alma mater.”

“I have very fond memories of Nacogdoches and the SFA Theatre Department,” Robichaux wrote in an email interview. “I am still friends with many of my classmates, and I am still being inspired by my many mentors and teachers. I hope the current students are aware how well respected the faculty members are in their fields. The program at SFA is nationally recognized, and I was lucky to be there.

“One of the best parts of going to SFA for me was the performance opportunities available to a young actor,” he said. “I was in dozens of plays while there, and it says a lot about the community that it can support live theatre at that level. I learned so much by being on stage or in rehearsal all four years I was at school.”

Robichaux was also seen as Lloyd Hornbuckle opposite Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine in Linklater’s film “Bernie.” His theatre credits include the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C., Yale Repertory Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Syracuse Stage and theatres in New York, California and across the nation. He has been seen in leading, guest starring and recurring roles on ABC, NBC, CBS, Showtime, Comedy Central and the Lifetime Channel as well as the Sundance Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival.

As both an educator and actor, Robichaux has worked with many of the top training programs in the country, including the Juilliard School, Yale School of Drama, University of Evansville, University of Texas at Austin, Illinois Wesleyan, Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, New York Conservatory and the Elizabeth Mestnik Acting Studio in Los Angeles. Each summer he teaches in the masters program at the University of Northern Colorado, and he is currently head of acting in the MFA program at Penn State University in Pennsylvania where he lives with his wife and children.

Robichaux encouraged today’s SFA theatre students to be creative in finding traditional and nontraditional opportunities to work.

“If I could give advice to new Lumberjacks in the theatre program it would be to work,” he said. “A lot of actors think work is something someone gives you. But you must realize that working is your responsibility. Any number of students can create their own web series, short film, movie or live performance.

“We have to get out of the idea that we are merely actors in someone else’s project,” he said. “In the 21st century, we are truly performance makers. We can create work. But be warned: It takes a lot of work!”

‘The Importance of Being Earnest’

Anyone who loves outrageous characters and clever comedy will want to see “The Importance of Being Earnest” when the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre performs Oscar Wilde’s classic play Tuesday through Saturday, March 3 through 7, in Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.

This cheerful and lighthearted comedy of manners, which Wilde called “a trivial play for serious people,” is his brilliant tour de force, regarded by many as the wittiest play in the English language, according to Jack Heifner, SFA’s playwright-in-residence and director of the show.

“Witty dialogue, mistaken identities and hilarious characters” will enchant the audience, Heifner said.

“Jack is in love with Gwendolen, but when it is revealed that both Jack and his best friend, Algernon, are living a very big lie, a delightful comedy with outrageous revelations unfolds,” Heifner said. “The play is a swift comedy of manners – good and bad – and is an enchanting love story that satirizes everything in Victorian society.”

In deciding what he would like to direct this semester, Heifner chose “The Importance of Being Earnest” because he thought theatre students needed to experience “a classic play that would teach them more about period styles,” he said.

“Since this play is set in Victorian England, it provides an excellent opportunity for our students to explore a time that is very different from their own,” he said.

Today’s manners can be considered quite “casual” compared to the manners of 1895, which is when the play was first performed, Heifner explained.

“We have done a lot of research into the period, including a great deal of reading, as well as watching a biography of the life of Oscar Wilde and a video about the manners of the time.”

Beautiful sets and costumes will reflect the opulence of the time period, Heifner said.

“We are setting the play at the time it was written and in the theatre where it first played – the St. James Theatre in London,” he said. “The play opened on Feb. 14, 1895, and it still remains a gorgeous Valentine to the theatre.”

The play is considered “G” rated, although younger children likely will not understand the language and might be bored, Heifner said. There are no situations in the play that would be considered offensive to a typical audience.

Mastering the language in the script, the time period, the manners and the comedy will be challenging for Heifner and the student actors.

“It’s a very witty satire,” Heifner said. “I love challenges and so do our students. The play is an excellent opportunity for our students to work on a classic play that is considered one of the greatest comedies of all time.”

Heifner promises to deliver a “witty twist” on the production that will offer new delights and insights. “It is something I will not reveal,” he said. “It has to be seen!”

He believes that anyone who sees the show will leave Turner Auditorium with “a smile, an understanding of Victorian manners, and an appreciation of Oscar Wilde’s brilliant mind.”

“Most of all, I want them to be dazzled by our talented students in the School of Theatre,” he said.

Show times are 7:30 nightly March 3 through 7. A special school-day matinee will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 5. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and $7.50 for students/youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit theatre.sfasu.edu.