People who know Tyler Seiple know that he is a man of many talents.
He is a musician, a puppeteer, an actor – in addition to being a student.
This weekend, Ohio State will have the opportunity to see Seiple showcase his acting skills in “Oliver Hazard Perry: The Price of Victory” at the Drake Performance and Event Center.
With the director assistance and authorial cooperation of Jason Hedden, a graduate student in theatre, Seiple, a senior in theatre and history, researched, wrote and acts in “Oliver Hazard Perry: The Price of Victory.”
In 2005, both Seiple and Hedden separately answered to an advertisement from the department of theatre. It asked for any willing participant to create a one-man show about Port Clinton naval celebrity Oliver Hazard Perry, for their second annual OSU Port Clinton Performing Arts Festival. The two men had worked together in past productions and thought it would be nice to collaborate on a project.
“I have always been a fan of (Seiple’s) work, but this process allowed me to work with him in a different capacity, as co-collaborators,” Hedden said in an e-mail. “We both have a huge respect for each other and trust in each other’s abilities. I think this is what allowed the process to be such a joy.”
Both men studied and researched the life of Perry, and got the opportunity to meet with and learn from Gerry Altoff, the top Perry scholar in the country. According to a media release, using all the information they gathered, the two prepared a 20-minute performance with both an in-character talkback and out-of-character talkback, for a total presentation lasting about 40 minutes.
“We compiled our research and gave shape to the piece,” Hedden said. “I served as a pair of eyes when Tyler had to shift into actor mode.”
In an e-mail, Seiple said the performance is a flexible, live experiment with deliberate audience communication.
“When Jason and I developed it, we did so understanding that we would be performing it for a knowledgeable audience who would want to experience the Commodore’s life, personally and with an element of reenactment,” he said.
Besty Pandora, an undergraduate student representative for the department of theatre, said in an e-mail that the story of Perry is an interesting one that history buffs will enjoy.
“It is a fantastic story about an Ohio hero,” she said.
With the Perry narrative aside, Pandora said the most distinctive portion of the performance is the talkbacks.
The talkbacks are in two parts. In the first, Seiple said he answers questions while in character as Perry. He thentakes these questions from the audience, while under the assumption that his audience is visiting during his life in 1817. The audience then tries to stump Perry, which Hedden said has not happened yet. Seiple said this part was the most demanding, because he had to memorize facts and details of 19th century naval life.
The second part of the talkbacks has Hedden and Seiple answering questions about the process, as themselves.
“Every performance is different and promises all sorts of surprises, for myself and the audience,” Seiple said.
Pandora said that talkbacks are what make this performance different from any other performance.
“It will be very different from what people who have little experience with going to the theater because they might not expect this style,” Pandora said. “It is really living history.”
After first performing the show at the 2005 Port Clinton Performing Arts Festival, Seiple is showcasing the act for his independent research project for graduation.
Seiple, who hopes to pursue his master’s in acting, urges readers to come and see a performance that is a student collaboration.
“For those who wonder how OSU research intersects undergraduate life, along with the arts, the humanities, multiple disciplines or varying types of students, this may be the answer they’re looking for,” Seiple said.
