Opening the spring 2020 semester with a story about friendship, acceptance, and college relationships, the University of Iowa’s Department of Theatre Arts will put on the workshop play Taurus Sun/Aries Moon, written and directed by junior Rachel Wade.

Originally written as a one-act play for her freshman year playwriting class, Wade expanded her piece into a full-length production over the following year until she was ready to submit it to the UI Theatre Department annual spring contest. She received an email at the end of that spring semester notifying her that she had been selected.

Taurus Sun/Aries Moon follows two friends, Tatum and June, and their struggle with learning how to live proudly as who they are. While ultimately a celebration of friendship, trying to make it through day to day college life forces them to confront each other and their sexual orientations.

Describing her production as a cross between a drama and comedy, Wade’s inspiration for the show came from a similar mix of the two genres.

“There’s a lot of inspiration drawn from my own life and my experience with coming out,” she said. “There’s a lot of inside jokes that I’ve taken from my own life that my friends might recognize if they come see, but other audience members might not.”

While the play is Wade’s, she says her experience with the actors who will bring the play to life onstage have changed parts of her play for the better throughout the rehearsal and editing process.

“They taught me a lot about the show that I wouldn’t have seen without their perspective,” she said. “Sometimes I would ask them a question, and they’d give me an answer that I wasn’t expecting, but I agree with much more than I had in my head. They’ve given me a lot of good insight about a show that I wrote, but I think it’s gotten a lot better with their different perspectives and ideas.”

Sophomore Faith Harlow plays Tatum, her first role in a UI production. She said her freshman year she was afraid to audition, but her role in Taurus Sun/Aries Moon has been a good experience.

Harlow said she found her character’s mindset difficult to sink into, but that both she and Tatum share a lot of similarities, especially when it comes to their anxious tendencies.

“She as a character is very relatable to me because I also struggle with overthinking, and I’m very shy when you first meet me, and Tatum is very shy without her best friend, June,” she said.

In addition to the overall relatability of the characters, Harlow said she is excited for the audience to see how the play speaks out to the bisexual community and beyond.

“I think this play speaks out about how it’s important to feel comfortable with [bisexuality] and it might take time and it might be hard for other people to understand, but in general, talking about it, trying to understand it, and being comfortable with it is such a great goal to have,” she said.

In an email to The Daily Iowan, stage manager Alexis Bucklin wrote that she was also excited for the audience to see many LGBTQ characters portraying unrepresented identities.

“In recent years there have been more LGBT characters [in theater], but their entire story revolves around their personal sexuality issues,” she wrote. “Taurus sun/Aries moon is able to portray ‘a day in the life’ as well as the deeper inter-workings of the different character’s personalities.”