The Students Behind ‘How to Defend Yourself’

Amherst’s theater and dance department has been hard at work staging “How to Defend Yourself,” a dramatic comedy by Lilliana Padilla and a recipient of the 2019 Yale Drama Series Prize. Set on a college campus, the plot follows a sorority sister who has been brutally assaulted at a frat party and how her friends have constructed a DIY workshop on self-defense in response. Over the course of a couple of days, characters played by both Amherst students and outside performers portray the impact sexual assault has on a community. 

Lyla Wood ’28 (assistant director), Lauren Rainey ’28 (cast member), and Anna Copeland ’28 (cast member) decided to tackle the themes in “How to Defend Yourself” as their junior project. Each year, the department’s majors and faculty members all get together to discuss what shows they want to work on, some being senior theses and others individual projects. The trio ultimately selected “How to Defend Yourself” because, as Rainey noted, “the heaviness is bracketed by the closeness of the friends you see on stage.” Following seven core characters, the play is an ensemble piece requiring equal dedication to each of the parts. After having spent so many hours working with these parts, Wood pointed out, “you [become] very invested in all of [the characters]. They all have their own arc and their own struggles and relationships. I care about them; they’re like my friends.”

While many aspects of the play distinguish it from other shows that have graced Holden Theater, one thing Wood, Rainey, and Copeland really pushed for was a female director — fortunately, Seonjae Kim, a New York City-based director, writer, and translator, was available. “The department listened to us!” they commented. On top of that, the final cast turned out to be very diverse: On stage, the audience will see actors from every grade at the college and the Five Colleges as well, including Hampshire College. “We really don’t want this department to get a reputation that we only cater to majors or that it’s really hard to get involved,” Rainey said.

The central themes of “How to Defend Yourself” make it an appealing play to showcase this semester, especially in light of the recent events at Cornell University and the 50th anniversary of coeducation at Amherst. “The immediacy is really present in a way that isn’t there for a lot of shows we do as a department because it feels like it could be at Amherst,” Rainey said. “It feels very relevant to us as people who are also students at college.” 

Bringing the 2016 play to fruition, members of the production said, was an enlightening experience for everyone involved. From the cast members and directors to stage technicians and the intimacy coordinator, a great deal of time and thought went into ensuring the many moving parts came together smoothly for the final production. 

The cast credits the diversity of identities represented in the script for making the process especially enjoyable. “Our rehearsal process has felt so natural and fun; we’re laughing all the time,” Copeland said.

Actors said the fact that the plot of the play incites a wide range of emotions also helps. “When I read the script for the first time, it made me laugh, and then it made me cry and then made me laugh again. I was like, ‘what is going on!’” Wood said. 

“How to Defend Yourself” will run during family weekend from Thursday to Saturday. The team’s main hope is that people leave feeling inspired to discuss the topics in the play. “I hope that families come to this and have conversations about what they saw or felt with people that they maybe don’t have these conversations with a lot or don’t get the chance to talk to that frequently,” Copeland said.  

“The material is risky; it’s heavy and could be very triggering,” Kim added. “So as a director, I’m always trying to strike a balance between taking care of my company and making sure it’s a space where people can feel empowered and inspired to make bold choices.”