Theatre student presents Honors Capstone and Student Engagement Forum crossover

As the campus gears up for graduation excitement mounts for the big day when – exams completed, finals submitted, the degree audit all checked out – seniors will march up to receive their hard-earned degrees. But after all that, after quick, teary photos with friends and family, the cards and cake and good wishes...what then?

This is exactly the question that started the wheels turning for honor student Nic Sticinski. Each student in the Radford University Honors Academy must complete a capstone project. For a theatre major with an emphasis in acting, some kind of performance seems a natural conclusion for the capstone. But Sticinski had to narrow down what the performance would actually be. It was then that he realized he could explore the very question that had been on his mind in recent months. What happens after graduation?

The result is “The Undiscovered Country: A Contemplation of the Future,” a one-man performance comprising monologues and songs unified by the theme of uncertainty. Sticinski took the title from Hamlet’s famous “To be or not to be…”soliloquy in which the title prince contemplates the uncertainty of what mortals face after life ends.

“My hope is that my performance will speak to the audience, that they might relate it to times when they have felt lost or unsure,” Sticinski comments in his abstract about the performance.

The show’s material ranges from stage musicals to the movies and is interspersed with Sticinski’s own commentary about how his journey relates to the pieces he will perform. While he sees the primary focus of the project is to showcase his talents as a performer, he hopes also to demonstrate his understanding of theatre in general. Sticinski has been primarily responsible for putting all the aspects of the presentation together including lighting and staging.

“Undiscovered Country” is also being presented as part of the Radford University Student Engagement Forum and will be performed one time only May 4 at 2 p.m. in the Hawes Studio Theatre. There is no admission but seating is limited.