U of C SCPA Alchemy 2025 Review: But What is Natural
By Hannah Caparino, April 30 2025—
The University of Calgary’s School of Creative and Performing Arts (U of C SCPA) presented the 2025 ALCHEMY Festival of Student Work near the end of winter semester, showcasing a wide array of shows and performances and highlighting senior projects that ranged from dance, music, drama, and more. The interdisciplinary performance, But What is Natural, combines drama, dance and music to create a murder mystery experience that acts as a commentary on power and relationships. The show is directed by Chris Mosimann and Nikhat Saheb, two fourth year Drama-Education students who are set to lead a cast and crew of like minded creatives.
Audiences enter the theatre and are met with a coffin containing the deceased king, and once everyone is seated Detective Philip Maraschino (Sebastian Salomon Arriagata) and his partner, Sierra Corey (Soph Sloan) set the scene. The king has been murdered and there are four suspects who each have a motive for murder. Queen Reverie Solace (Marzia Itrube-Becerril) is the grieving wife of the King and no longer has a shared power with the King, Vivian Beau (Abi McGrath) runs a lucrative produce company and is characterized to have much to gain from the King’s death, and Jayke LaChien (Wyl McDonald) is a jazzercise instructor that developed a close and physical relationship with the King. The last suspect in the lineup is Lumberjack Jack James Joyce (Ivan Guevara Garcia) who is a sympathetic and observant man.
The overall ambience in the show can be attributed to Chelsea Woodward’s original music composition, providing the show with an eerie and melancholic atmosphere that draws the audience in. Advaitha Bharwdwaj, Ainsley Louie-Suntjens and Cassandra Rickets are the dancers who accompany the actors, representing parts of their consciousness that humanizes the characters. The best example being how McDonald’s Jayke LaChien is grieving and is accompanied by Bharwdwaj who comforts LaChien in the aisles. The dancers serve as a subtextual layer within the story helping audiences understand the characters and their burdens in a high stakes situation, each audience member can read a character’s intention through movement and expression.
The interactions between the characters also provide context surrounding the plot. The characters that the audience becomes most endeared to is the distant yet sentimental relationship between Sierra Corey and Lumberjack Jack James Joyce, as Sierra Corey had a close friendship with Lumberjack Jack James Joyce’s late daughter Rachel. This relationship had established a level of sympathy towards the loyal father who’s characterized by his caring mannerisms through checking on Queen Reverie and maintaining the beauty of the garden.
The play’s climax takes place as all the characters are gathered to the center of the stage and Detective Philip Maraschino reestablished all the characters and their motivations. The officer goes on to speak to the audience and gauges who they think might have killed the King. The voting system takes place via pointing at each suspect and every member is asked to point at who they think is guilty. While the show presents obvious motives, audiences can decide if the presumably innocent characters are guilty or vice versa.
Ultimately the audience chose Lumberjack Jack James Joyce, who didn’t put up a fight when he was taken by the executioner. Some audience members in the stands objected, and as the Detective summarizes, how audiences were susceptible to the power and influence of all the characters lead to their collective but controversial choice. As the characters leave the stage, the Detective and Queen Reverie stay behind to share a drink only for the audiences to sit back and watch the Detective poison the Queen as the lights dim.
The show comments on power and relationships within the play in a fun and engaging manner. The showcase of multiple art disciplines made the show an interesting take on the “who-dunnit” structure of storytelling. For more student-led projects, updates will be provided on the SCPA webpage and the Alchemy website.