Intimate student production of ‘My Ántonia’ premieres tonight

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A story of love, friendship and regret between an intimate cast of students will premiere tonight.

“My Ántonia” follows the relationship between Jim Burden, played by Wyoming junior Mike Nichols, and Ántonia Shimerda, an Eastern European immigrant played by Jackson sophomore Rebekah Trombley, as her family struggles to establish a farm on the Nebraska prairie.

The theatre adaptation of the 1918 novel is part of the Riecker Literary series and the fourth piece to be featured since 2005.

Performances of “My Antonia” are in Townsend Kiva in Moore Hall, at 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are free, but must be obtained in advance at the Central Box Office.

“The focus is on the characters and telling the story rather than the big production,” said Elizabeth Richard, director and producer of the production. “It allows the imagination of the audience to be spurred in a different way and we hopefully can be less literal in some sense than film.”

Eight actors, one cellist, a wheelbarrow and one old chest make up most everything on stage, which keeps attention on the narrative rather than the scenery said Richard, a Communication and Dramatic Arts instructor and three-year affiliate of the Riecker series.

“I love that it’s a close knit cast,” said Indiana junior Colin Russell, who plays the character Otto Fuchs. “With a large cast, you aren’t as able to get as close and act as well with your fellow actors,”

Ypsilanti freshman Sam Houston said the cast tries to stay as true to the language of the book as possible and minimize improvisation.

“It’s like ‘The Notebook’ for immigrants,” Houston said.

“My Ántonia” takes place more than a century ago, Richard said, but many of its messages remain as relevant today as when they were first penned.

“(The story) is really old but you see the show and there are all these pertinent issues that come up,” she said. “It’s about young people growing up and becoming adults and about how we deal with each other in our lives and important issues in our world today.”