“Lullabies and Broken Things,” a new play by Adaire Kamen, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’14, opens on Monday, Oct. 21 and runs through Wednesday, Oct. 23 in the Veronica Lally Kehoe Studio Theatre. This is the third studio show that Kamen has shown at Fordham,  following “Speak Not of the Forgotten” during the spring semester of 2012 and “The Way We Ain’t Supposed To” during last semester.

The play features three characters: Eloise,  a female boarding school student, played by Aishling Pembroke, FCLC ’14, James, her secret boyfriend, played by Evan Sibley, FCLC ’16 and Mary, her teacher, played by Marguerite Frarey, FCLC ’15. The play reflects Kamen’s views on mental health issues and the treatment of female sexuality, but she hesitates to share anymore before the show opens.

“I’ve been trying to keep it kind of a mystery on purpose,” Kamen said. “I feel like fewer people know this play than my last plays, so it’s interesting to have people going in who know nothing about it. But, what I’m really excited about for this production is the design because I think this play is a little bit more abstract than [my other works].”

What Kamen meant by an “unconventional” move for a show in the Kehoe Theatre was that this production will be staged essentially in the round, with audience members surrounding the action on all sides. Though the Kehoe Theatre has built-in seats, most will be roped off and those in use will be supplemented by onstage seating.

“[Professional director Daniel Winerman] has done an amazing job of staging it to be in the round and it’s just not something that’s done much,” Kamen said. “From a playwriting perspective, I love it because I think it does speak to the play a lot.”

As Kamen prepared her final rewrites, it was clear that input from all of her collaborators, actors, designers and the director had contributed to her work. “Sometimes [someone] will say something that I realize is completely valid or completely true but that I hadn’t even thought of.” While talking to Kamen, it became clear that she is excited to share her story, as well as all of the other elements of the production with the Fordham community.