Personal Effects
By: Faithanne Rukavina
On Halloween weekend, Jones Theater, also known as Black Box Theater, hosted a spooky but sentimental Senior Show called Personal Effects. Directed and written by Senior Communications and Theater Studies Major, Sydni Mauldin, the story revolves around a mortician’s adolescent daughter, Lydia (played by Kyla Schwager), who stumbles upon a dusty box tucked away in a corner of the funeral home, which happens to be personal effects of unidentified bodies. She discovers soon after that she can see the ghosts whose souls still roam the funeral home. Lydia be friends Ada (played by Faithanne Rukavina), a 22-year-old traditional 1950s housewife whose charm, bubbly spirit, and gentle wisdom stand in contrast to Lydia’s uncertainty. Ada quickly becomes both a men tor and companion as Lydia learns to navigate her new abilities when meeting the other ghosts living at the funeral home. Ada introduces and guides Lydia with her new abilities, and they build a wholesome friendship that neither of them was expecting to appreciate so much. The show ends in a tear-jerker plot twist that gives you a new perspective on life, death, regret, and friend ship. “I was sitting with my friends, and they were telling me stories of how they grew up in the funeral home. Stories about having to dig graves for a job and handing out pamphlets for the ceremonies. That conversation sparked the idea of Personal Effects, and I started writing it in my playwriting class last spring in hopes of producing it,” said Mauldin. The show was cast in late September, and it debuted on October 29, running until November 1. It beautifully captures how friendship can bloom in the most unexpected places. The show marks another strong contribution to the university’s growing legacy of student-led productions. Personal Effects ultimately delivers a haunting yet heartfelt reminder of the beauty in connection and the stories we leave behind.
