October 31, 2024
“Growing up and Movin’ Out” was nothing short of amazing. You may have seen the posters for it all over campus, but seeing the show was an incredible experience.
The show was raw and deeply emotional, and it raised topics people should discuss but often don’t.
Winthrop’s students praised the play, from the singing to the song choices, to the choreography and the most important part: the emotions the cast put into their characters.
Amid the profound themes of harm, suicide, mental struggles, grief and friendship during life’s toughest challenges, we witness it all unfold within a circle of friends.
We first meet Jrue, played by Josiah Johnson. Jrue is the perspective we see throughout the show. When we meet Jrue, we quickly learn he recently lost his brother from murder, and we can see how his home life is in shambles.
We quickly learn that he relies on who he has left, Alexander or Xander (Justin Stone).
As we meet Xander, we meet the rest of the friend group. There’s Axel (Sara Montreuil), Fallon (Mckenzy Harrison), Ty (Seyven Schlueter), Angie/Mom (Zoe Hartsfield), Becca (Emily Camp), Alice (Makayla Hines), and Harper (Dane Jones).
Throughout the play, the group together deals with death, and grief within the group itself. Each character is built brick by brick and has their own story, which is shown through their actions.
Quickly, we learned that the show wasn’t as light and bubbly as we thought. Things quickly get dark when one of the friends, Ty, ends up killing Xander, and it leads not just Jrue – but the whole group down a deep hole of grief and guilt.
Things truly begin to unravel when Jrue wants revenge but is still unsure and gets into a disagreement about revenge towards the person who hurt Xander, and they sadly both get hurt.
In the end, the group grieves in their own emotional ways, while still being their teenage selves. Despite this, they also find themselves through the grief, which we see by the encore. We also see how Becca, Axel, and Alice decide they’re going to go on a road trip, Harper is going to join a teaching program, and Fallon becomes Axel’s roommate.
I had the luxury of getting to talk to Emily Camp, who plays Becca. We had a deep conversation about the show and the themes talked about in the show.
When it came to Emily’s favorite experience during this whole process, she said, “I think building my character was the best part because this show is a divide piece – I got to build my character from the bottom up.”
She continued with, “I wanted to relate to the story, as well as other people because I couldn’t relate to the topics exactly, I did the best with what I could and empathized as such.”
Camp, a theater major, is no stranger to acting in plays, so how did this experience shape up compared to her past performances?
“This was my first experience with something like this, meaning working fully with improv. It was different to get the name and plot for the character but having to create the character instead of just receiving it all was very different from what I was used to,” Camp said.
She continued, “I almost felt inexperienced but I knew I could do it. Thanks to the amazing actors, directors, and team behind the scenes I felt supported in everything I not only did – but also created. It was such a luxury to get to create Becca how I saw her, and how others appreciated her.”
When it came to the question of what message from the show resonated with the cast the most, Camp provided me with a profound response that led us to a deep conversation about growing older.
She said, “I think for me, the message of growing up is inevitable. For me and my character, I play growing up as something that cannot be avoided, and as something you’re going to adapt to and figure out.”
She continued, “A big thing for me when it comes to portraying Becca, is showing mental health, and how it truly shows others through actions, and especially through emotions, but I think that for me the message that sticks is that growing up is inevitable and you just have to go with it.”
I couldn’t agree any more with Emily, and overhearing the reviews of the show from other people warmed my heart because of the rawness the show gave.
Some audience members talked about how they cried through the show, while others said it tugged at their heartstrings. My own opinion is right along with theirs.
Growin’ Up and Movin’ Out was an absolute masterpiece and is what we need in today’s society. It is a show with a beautifully written story, brought to life by the improv of these amazing actors, the show’s creative writers, and all the people behind the scenes.
