Spoken word performances “Ink” and “Silence” aimed to inform and relate to the audience with brutal honesty and real perspectives from a variety of characters. The shows were held on Thursday and Saturday at the Kennedy-Mcllwee Studio Theatre in Thompson Hall and Friday at One Earth Pavilion in Talley Student Union.

William Stewart was awarded the 2015 Creative Artist Award for “Ink” and Bethel Maekele and Britnique Hodge were given Honorable Mention for the 2015 Creative Artist Award for “Silence.” The deadline for this year’s award is this Tuesday and is awarded to exceptional work in music, dance and theater created by NC State students.

The first act of the show was “Silence,” which included two women standing together speaking both individually and in perfect synchrony about racism and injustice.

In “Silence,” Bethany Kendall, a junior studying history and Africana studies, spoke as Performer #1 and Vanessa Springs, a 2015 NC State graduate in environmental technology and management, spoke as Performer #2. Kendall and Springs shed light on prevalent issues of race and injustice, sharing their personal experiences with racism and societal misconceptions through poetry and spoken word during the performance.

The simple, one-word title of “Silence” was up for interpretation by audience and cast members alike.

“To me, the title ‘Silence’ represents how when a lot of things happen, something that you feel is unjust, the people surrounding you don’t know how to react so they just pretend it’s not going on and turn the other way, and that’s ‘Silence,’” Springs said. 

Kendall agreed with her fellow performer.

“In my own life, there have been tons of times where prejudiced things have been said against me and awful things said against me and where all I could do was bite my tongue,” Kendall said. “I didn’t have the bravery to say anything, I didn’t have the timing to say anything, I didn’t have the chance to say anything.”

Rachel Klem, the director of “Ink” and an acting coach and instructor for NC State’s University Theatre, had a similar view on “Silence.” 

“‘Silence’ was the first piece, and it is specifically about being silent to injustice or racism,” Klem said. “And also the feeling of the woman that the story happened to was that she felt shocked into silence.” 

“Ink” and “Silence” are closely related, such as their accessibility to an audience and poignant words on social injustice, but Klem described “Ink” as being more about “pen to paper, writing down your thoughts and sharing the thoughts of your heart with the world.”

The cast enjoyed many topics and quotations from the performance. “False prophets only preaching for profit granted the word abomination on interracial and homosexual wedding rings,” was one the best lines in the show, according to Vincent Bland Jr., a student in the Wake NC State STEM Early College program and Poet #2 in “Ink.”  

Arthur Freeman, a junior studying philosophy who played Poet #1, felt connected to his character. He felt that his character was intended to “give people hope.” Freeman portrayed an “awkward” person who deals with the effects of social anxiety and troubles with his love life. 

The performance also informed its audience on issues relevant on a college campus, such as rape. Deborah Lalush, a freshman studying industrial design who was Poet #4 in “Ink” who was a character who spoke on an experience with rape and homosexuality. She backed strong and enlightening words with startling statistics, such as, “97 percent of rapists are not convicted.” 

“Ink” included a character who spoke on behalf of a veteran and the thoughts and emotions that a veteran may experience, which was portrayed by John Gupton, a senior studying chemical engineering and Poet #3. Gupton’s favorite line was, “Dreams are for sleeping, and sleeping is for the wealthy.” 

The cast of “Silence” had four to five rehearsals, and the cast of “Ink” had about 15 rehearsals that lasted about three hours each. The work put in by the cast and crew was worth it, according to the cast, because they made great friendships, were able to share their message to an audience and speak out about current problems.