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The ladies and their stories

Maureen - "Cheese With Her Whine."

Jenny - "Jumping In."

Ethel - "A Family Tradition."

Roxy - "Sexual Genetics."

Cassie - "Numb."

Amelia - "Prego vs. Ragu."

Alexis - "A Lover's Kiss."

Tracy - "A Florist, of All Things."

Leslie - "Someone You Can't Save."

As far as Melissa Newman is concerned, they're "her ladies."

The Lycoming College senior has spent the past 11 months crafting "You're Human, Too," a one-person play showcasing the stories of nine unique women.

"I spent the summer writing it and actually didn't complete it until September," Newman said. "I said to my sister that I need one more character. It would turn out that I needed two. I couldn't understand how I could have all these creative juices, then they just disintegrate through August."

Newman began writing the play in March during a Modern Drama course. The ideas started with simple characteristics on a single sheet of paper: woman paralyzed, girl with Double Dutch obsession, cheese lover. From there, and throughout the summer, Newman developed the characters into their own unique beings each with their own struggles and triumphs.

"Some of the characters have evolved into something I didn't even expect. It's my little brain child," she said.

Since she began rehearsing in September, Newman said that she hasn't put much thought into being on stage alone, as she had spent time on stage alone in previous productions before other characters arrived.

"Last semester I had my rehearsals in the morning so I had a lot of time to just play by myself," she said. "I feel proud - so proud - and scared. I don't think I've ever cared so much about something in my life. It's so personal because I didn't just write it, I'm acting and I directed it and I made all the choices for the characters."

Newman added that she isn't phased by the idea of being on stage alone. The week leading up to the production was the first she had even thought of it.

"Once I found my girls, my lovely ladies as I like to call them, you focus on the work more than just that you're going to be on stage by yourself. The worst thing that could happen in a one-person show is that the actor isn't focused on what they're doing, then it doesn't seem like they know their characters. If I didn't know my stuff, if I didn't do as much work or research as I should have, you're going to start to notice flaws."

The task of playing so many characters may seem daunting to some, but Newman has the reassurance of experience on her side. Two years ago, Lycoming produced a play called "The Dining Room," in which Newman played various characters ranging in age from 3 to 95.

"That's another thing I knew from the beginning, I loved that experience of playing multiple characters," she said. "I kind of took that with me when I was creating it, as well. You just do it with your face and your posture and your voice quality. Every single one of my characters has a different voice and walk and expression. That was one of my favorite shows that I had done here, which was challenging. But I like a challenge."

Newman's experience with her characters for "You're Human, Too" isn't limited to the script. Being that the show is part of a senior project requirement for graduation, Newman has had other tasks involved with the project.

"I had to write character analysis on each of them - six pages on why they are the way they are," she said. "I also had to read a book called 'The Actor and the Target.' What you have to remember is that there is always a target that you're acting to, whether that person is in the scene or it's the audience or it's yourself, you're acting to somebody."

From a woman paralyzed from the neck down to a girl who just wants to jump, Newman has a great task laid before her in showing what lays deeper in each of the characters in a way that only those characters would show it.

"I guess my biggest anxiety is that I want people to like the show," she said. "I want them to take something away from it. Because even though they're all different, it's not just me saying 'oh, hey, let me just write different characters.' It's all about struggle and triumph and love."

One of the main themes of the play, according to Newman, is that despite cultural diversity, there's a little bit of everyone in everyone else. Her focus is to find what parts of herself she can pull out to create the character.

"Some people live based on their logic and others lived based on their emotions. I'm an emotional liver and I like that. I like that I can put myself in other people's shoes," she said.

Ultimately, Newman's thoughts are on her audience.

"It's love, in general," she said. "Everybody has desire. Everyone has a passion. That's what I like most about theater. It's always about the human emotions, and what humans need. Yeah, it's got awesome stuff like lights and sound and great playwrights, but the best plays are universal and the fact that people can always feel that way. If the audience is even just a little changed by what they saw then I've done my job."

"You're Human, Too" begins at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Dragon's Lair Theatre in the basement of the Academic Center on the Lycoming College Campus. Admission is free and open to the public. For information, call the theater department at 321-4024.