I think I’ve said this before, but when entering into “The Fast and the Furious” universe, don’t expect any “Shakespeare” or grandiose soliloquies. Besides Vin Diesel’s mumblings and grumblings, the real scene chewing comes from Jason Momoa’s character Dante. He’s just in this for a paycheck. He’s just showy the whole movie.

The Richland Drama Department received multiple national awards this semester for their production of “Self-Injurious Behavior,” which they performed at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Abilene on Feb. 27. Preparing since October, the student cast and the director, Professor Andy Long put on a much-rehearsed production of the play for various universities and colleges.

Richland Campus drama professor and director Andy Long and the student cast of “Self-Injurious Behavior” have done an excellent job of portraying somber realism. The drama department presented this as a participating production at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival last October. Competing in Region 6, which includes colleges and universities in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. Richland is one of only five groups selected to advance to the regional competition. This is the first time Dallas College has been chosen.

Tragedy has struck at Richland campus, in a theatrical sense, as the drama department puts on its rendition of the Greek tragedy “Antigone.”

It’s the first play to grace the stage in Fannin Hall on April 27, since the two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the closing of campus buildings.

“The last thing you can do during a pandemic that is spread the way this one is, is be in a small room yelling at each other and spraying [germs],” said director Gregory Lush. “Theater is about conflict, so its heightened emotional states consist of almost always volume and projection. It was just impossible. The school had just shut down. It wouldn’t have been possible.”