Sen. Patrick Murphy expressed his reservations about The Sunflower’s recent review of the Wichita State School of Performing Arts’ rendition of “Spring Awakening” at Wednesday night’s Student Senate meeting.
Reporter Riley Sipes attended the production in late February and wrote a review on the plot and performances of actors Solomon Puckett and Hayley Loya.
The opinion-based article discussed the importance of the show’s plot, but the reporter felt that some of the acting “fell flat.”
Murphy began by reading the beginning of the review, which he said “began normal” but ultimately said the article unfairly reviewed the actors.
“It’s okay to have opinions on shows. The whole reason The Sunflower exists is to let student voices be heard, which I do think is a good thing,” Murphy said. “But it’s important to remember we are first and foremost students.”
Murphy also read from an excerpt of the article that reviewed lead actor Solomon Puckett’s acting.
Murphy said that because it was Puckett’s first production at WSU, it would have been more beneficial for the article to provide more constructive criticism. In the article, the Sunflower reporter suggested providing more interesting facial expressions.
“Constructive criticism on ways it could have been better would probably fit here, but now this isn’t really constructive,” Murphy said. “It’s largely tearing down.”
Murphy then read from a statement that Puckett made on Instagram regarding the article which stated, “This article truly did not affect me. At the end of the day, I’m confident enough in my performance and who I am as a performer to not let this kind of review get to me, but what you said and the way you talked, towards anyone else could have been a lot more detrimental.”
Murphy said writing about another student this way was “unnecessary” and that next time, The Sunflower should “tone it down a little bit.”
Sen. Andrew Bobbitt asked about recommendations for The Sunflower on how to better review future productions when they dislike the show.
Murphy said that he personally couldn’t answer the question but recommended reaching out to Puckett.
