As the lights come up at The Cherry Arts space, the audience will be immersed into an intense card game between four friends. These friends are played by Ithaca College students: senior Sylvia Grosvold, sophomore Jack Abba, sophomore Mikey Champion and senior Anna Riley. Their characters will experience a rollercoaster of emotions as this play captures their unforeseen reunion. 

Sydney Pinhack ’24 decided to take on her passion project this past summer when she began writing and producing “Calling Bluffs,” an original play that will take the stage Feb. 14–16.

“Calling Bluffs” follows Thea, Henry, Evan and Hannah as they unexpectedly reconnect at a game night. Thea and Hannah are hosting for the first time in their college apartment and Hannah’s boyfriend, Evan, brings Henry, who happens to be an old friend of Thea’s from high school. The characters will have to confront why their friendships ended and determine whether Henry’s complicity with an act of sexual violence is forgiveable. 

“They now have to piece together whether or not there’s room for forgiveness and growth and they can maybe move forward as friends,” Pinhack said.

As well as exploring themes of friendship and forgiveness, the play deals with the heavy subject matter of sexual violence. Specifically, how to navigate when a friend acts as a bystander in instances of sexual misconduct. 

Abba, an acting major, plays the role of Henry. Abba talked about how “Calling Bluffs” brings a larger societal problem to light by describing the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 40% of students experienced at least one sexually harassing behavior in college. His character, Henry, is someone who struggles with holding someone accountable who has committed an act of sexual violence. 

“[My character] learns very quickly that action is the way to go, and he has to cut this man off, and he has to actively change his behavior, rather than just keeping empty promises and empty apologies,” Abba said. 

For Pinhack, “Calling Bluffs” is a very personal project as she said the play is inspired by her own experience in high school. She dealt with a similar situation; many of her friends turned a blind eye to an act of sexual violence. She said that writing this play has given her an outlet to process that and learn more about herself. 

“Sometimes you can’t forgive people, but that doesn’t mean you can’t move on,” Pinhack said. “There are certain things and certain people in my life that I just will never be able to forgive, and they will never be back in my life.”

The play is co-directed by Claire Gratto ’23 and senior Zoë Belle, a theatre studies major. Gratto and Pinhack also earned degrees in theatre studies.

Belle became a part of the project early on and supported Pinhack through the process of writing. 

“It’s just cool to see a piece of work start from nothing, start from an idea in Sydney’s head and an experience from Sydney’s life, and build and build and build and build into something that requires collaboration and kindness,” Belle said.

Pinhack drew heavily from her experience as a theatre studies major during the process of writing and bringing “Calling Bluffs” to life. She came to the college with hardly any playwriting experience and ended up falling in love with the art after taking many courses on the subject. 

“I feel like one of the big things that we’re taught over and over again is that if you’re a writer or director, things like that, you really have to kind of create your own opportunities,” Pinhack said. 

Pinhack did just that. After graduating early, she said she wanted to take advantage of spending an extra year in Ithaca. She booked the space at The Cherry Arts before even finishing the script as a personal incentive to get her project off the ground. 

“Suddenly, I was just here another year, and I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to take on a project,” Pinhack said. “It will be harder for me to do once I move to a bigger city and have a harder financial situation.”

Pinhack said she chose The Cherry Arts space because they have provided support and been a positive environment for people bringing their work outside of the Ithaca College bubble in the past. Co-director, Belle, said she appreciates the intimacy of the space because the audience will be very close to the actors. It will allow them to put themselves into the character’s shoes and feel as though they are a part of the situation.

Belle said she hopes “Calling Bluffs” will inspire conversations about difficult topics like sexual assault. 

Belle said the play wrestles with tough questions like, when is forgiveness the right thing to do, and when will it cause more harm than good and should you cut someone out of your life for their actions even if you are not directly affected by them? 

“I feel like, especially in our social, political climate right now, it’s easy to feel trapped and to fall back into feelings of powerlessness,” Belle said.

She said she is grateful to have places like college campuses that facilitate important conversations, and creating a new space outside of the college with that same purpose has been inspiring. 

Abba said he was originally not going to accept the role due to concerns of overworking himself, but after the election he changed his mind. 

“I thought the show was pretty topical,” Abba said. “I just thought it was a good moment to elevate theater as a way of actually trying to say something, rather than sort of shying away from certain topics.” 

Grosvold, an acting major, discussed how the process has been collaborative since the beginning as Pinhack facilitated tablework; a rehearsal period where the cast and crew engaged in script and character analysis. During rehearsals, actors have had a great deal of creative liberty and some of their improvisations have even become part of the show. The actors have been able to put their own unique spin on their characters. 

“It was really awesome to get to give my input as the script was being formed, and because it’s still a new work, Sydney has been really open with our improv,” Grosvold said.

The space for collaboration that Pinhack has fostered makes “Calling Bluffs” different from other plays Abba has been a part of. He said that working in collaboration with Pinhack allows changes to be made based on the actors’ differing perspectives and interpretations of the characters.

“With the playwright in the room, it’s been a much more fluid and open-ended creative process,” Abba said.

“Calling Bluffs” will have its opening night at 8 p.m. Feb. 14 at The Cherry Arts space, with subsequent shows at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Feb. 15 and at 2 p.m. Feb. 16. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the link in their Instagram bio @calling_bluffs. Each ticket is $20 and Ithaca College students can use code ICSTUDENT to get 25% off their tickets. 

“Everyone will take something different away from the piece,” Belle said. “They should absolutely come see it to discover what’s going to be relevant for them and what they can connect to.” 

Editor’s Note: Senior Anna Riley worked as a copy editor for The Ithacan during Fall of 2024