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All seats were filled and standing room was hard to come by for Tuesday's Convocation, presented by the Loren Kahn Puppet & Object Theatre.
Convocation Director Jeb Branin said this was the largest turnout for a Convocation this semester.
"There was standing room only," he said. "This semester has been the biggest turnout since I've been involved with Convocations."
Carrie Trenholm, an assistant professor in the Teacher Education & Family Development Department, proposed the idea for this Convocation, Branin said.
The presentation detailed the daily life of an emotional and insecure theater character known as B.B. (Bernadette Barbotine), portrayed by Isabelle Kessler. The play used humor and symbolism to describe the problems people go through in life and methods they use to cope with them.
"We all have our baggage," B.B. said. "You have your childhood, I have my suitcase. You have your parents, I have my writer."
Set adrift in a life raft, B.B.'s only company is her cactus as she does her best to find meaning in her life. In her frenzy to outdo Juliet of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," B.B. experienced three dramatic deaths in the course of the program.
The first resulted from choking to death on liquid from a dropper-bottle, the second presumably from a broken heart and the last was in the midst of her sinking ship.
"I felt that it was a unique look into theatre," said Cameron Shaw, a freshman hotel, resort and hospitality management major from Roy. "The set was really fun and unique and I loved the whole concept that she was trying to beat Juliet."
Although students enjoyed the presentation, some students had difficulty understanding Kessler.
"She had a heavy French accent," said Grayson Moulton, a sophomore theatre arts major from Provo. "But people up front could hear better than the people in the back."
However, Moulton felt that Kessler had a great stage presence.
"Theatre majors can learn off of her energy and enthusiasm," he said.
Devyn Reed, a freshman theatre arts major from Salt Lake City, said he liked the presentation because he is a theatre arts major.
"She performed for students and it was so much fun," he said.
This Convocation was different from other ones because it was an actual performance, Reed said.
"It was a one-person show, and the set was different," he said. "It was so entertaining. Some of the other ones they just talked and talked."
The final Convocation for the fall semester, "Border Angels and Border Realities: The Truth About the US/Mexico Border," will be presented by Enrique Morones. It will take place on Nov. 27 at 11:30 a.m. in the SUU Auditorium.
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