Actress Sue Ott Rowlands has performed the traveling show "Homebody" in Saudi Arabia, Hungary, Romania and Wales and this week will take the stage in Squires Studio Theatre.
While Blacksburg is vastly different from the overseas locations, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences Ott Rowlands said the play has themes that reach across cultures.
"The themes are really quite universal," she said.
The play deals with the issue of identity, trying to find a place in the world where the life you live can matter, self validation and contribution, Ott Rowlands said.
"Homebody" is the first act of "Homebody/Kabul" and is about a British woman who is debating whether to leave her London home for Afghanistan.
Ott Rowland will deliver this one-hour long show and will be the only actor on stage throughout the performance. She first embodied the character, who is referred to as Homebody, in 2005 at the University of Toledo and has been acting as her ever since, but said the role hasn't become stale.
"No performance is ever the same. It's a constant discovery," Ott Rowlands said. "Whenever you share an idea with someone, it's about how the idea hits them and it informs you. It's that give and take."
Ott Rowlands doesn't have to concentrate on keeping the role fresh as each performance is a different experience. She learns something new from her audience's reaction.
Ott Rowlands said she likes Homebody and learns something new about the character every time she reprises the role.
"She's so smart and complicated, and needy. I think she's very witty and somebody I'd like to spend time with," Ott Rowlands said.
Homebody carries the first act by herself and because of this, "there's quite a lot left to the actor," she said.
Freelance director Elysa Marden said Ott Rowlands is a master of the complex language of "Homebody."
"It's an actor's tour de force," Marden said. "It's a wonderful challenge for a woman in contemporary theater."
Marden said she doesn't fear that the imprint she left on the play when she directed it is gone.
"I love that the work lives on," Marden said. "I fully expect that the spine of the choices are still there."
Holly Monsos, the designer and producer who handled lighting and costumes, said she trusts artistic decisions the crew makes after she has laid the groundwork for them.
"You just turn it into the back of the wardrobe and say 'go,'" she said. "They're going to do what they're going to do."
Monsos said that while lighting can add to the mood, the show is very portable and will work with whatever technology is available.
"The piece itself is such a strong piece that it can be done without any lighting support," Monsos said.
Monsos said Homebody is an overlooked but deep character, which she had to reflect in her costume choices.
She said she wanted her costumes to appear fuzzy to reflect how comfortable Homebody felt in her environment. At the end of the play, Homebody leaves London and Monsos said she had to find a trench coat that would transform Homebody and symbolize her departure. Monsos said selecting an appropriate wig for Homebody, who was to appear ordinary and plain, was a challenge as Ott Rowlands has an "artistic look."
Ott Rowlands is still wearing the same costume Monsos designed for the Toledo show.
The costume and the universality of the play remain unchanged each performance.
Ott Rowlands also pointed out that "Homebody" has a multicultural theme. She said there's a theme of commercializing cultural and she compared it to a traveler visiting Mexico and staying in the tourist sections while neglecting the lifestyle of the native people.
"When we, as Americans or Brits, touch a culture that way we corrupt it ... When we go to Alcapulco, we stay in the Princess Hotel and we have a great time," Ott Rowlands said. "But Mexico is not the Princess Hotel. We've totally corrupted the Mexican culture. It's messier. It's about humanity and people who are poor and places that are dirty and bombed out buildings in some parts of the world. It's not Disneyland. We've taken what was real and turned it into consumer appeal,"
Another theme that most people can relate to is Homebody's search for meaning in her life, she said.
"She's obsessed with Afghanistan, and language and she tries to find meaning in her obsessions. She's desperately looking to connect herself to life in a meaningful way," Ott Rowlands said.
Homebody eventually decides to act on her idea of moving to Kabul.
"She reaches a point where she won't survive unless she changes. Occasionally we do reach that point. I supposed it's like a drug addict who realizes the moment they've finally hit bottom and decides to change their life. But until then they do nothing," she said.
At the end of the play, "Homebody" leaves her London kitchen. Ott Rowlands said that while the audience is unsure of where she ultimately goes, Homebody decides to stop observing life and just live.
"Life is about getting wet and getting messy," Ott Rowlands said. "Here she is staying dry and she decides to live life. It's pretty cool."