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Though the workshop is as diverse as usual, this semester provided more plays that featured physical and mental weakness.
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One-act wonders
Directors Workshop delightful
By Tamara Glover
The Flat Hat
You know the semester is coming to a close when Director's Workshop flyers blanket the campus. This is the time when senior theater students showcase their directing capabilities through a series of one-act plays. Though the workshop is as diverse as usual, this semester provided more plays that featured physical and mental weakness than those of years past. If you did not get to see them, here is what you missed:
"Mafia on Prozac," directed by senior Aaron Oresnky, features two mob hitmen discussing whether the consequences of love are chance or choice. Despite the mottled New York accents, this play had the right mix of humor and gravity to keep the mood light, but the audience thinking. Freshman Griffen Jones and senior Jason Manns delivered stellar performances, never making the emotions seemed forced. Junior David Maga, whose life was spared by the discussion, also performed well, despite being confined to a cloth bag for the majority of the production.
"For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls," directed by senior Kara Friend, was funny in its delivery and visual gags, but relentless in its despairing undertones. The story shows a day in the life of a mother and her two unique sons. From watching the play it becomes obvious that she had envisioned her life turning out differently. The play wasn't done so much as it was overdone. Sophomore Ali Miller was excessively bitter, which countered the excessive cheer of sophomore Alice McKeon. Freshman Russell Fenton's exaggerated expressions and handicaps mirrored junior Scott Silvestro's total apathy.
"Oedi," directed by senior Keith Lyons, gave the audience the lightest of the workshop's fare. It opened with Oedipus (junior Joseph Gumina), who looked and sounded like a newscaster who had misplaced his proper century. This play delightfully utilized stereotyped characters such as the no-nonsense New York wife (junior Jennifer Rich) and the blind sage (junior Andrew Rosendorf). Both seemed to have stepped right out of a Mel Brooks production. It touched on issues such as incest, murder and love all within the realm of ancient Greek politics, which in turn poked fun at some of our current leaders.
"Seagulls," directed by senior Briana Yacavone, recounts the first failure of a woman to demonstrate her telekinetic abilities in front of an audience. The gifted woman was actually played by two people, senior Monalisa Arias and freshman Kyle Ferguson, who conveyed her confidence and fear, respectively.
The characters, including awkward Cliff (senior John Bond) and selfish Di (freshman Ginger Saunders) lent a sense of honesty to their characters that rivals Mainstage productions.
"A Chance Meeting," directed by senior K. O'Reilly places an audience in the voyeuristic position of watching a couple act out a fantasy in order to rekindle the passion in their marriage. When an acquaintance gets sucked in, all hell (or heaven, depending on your fetish) breaks loose. Junior Heather Aitken and sophomores Patrick Dillon and Ian Spain seemed comfortable with physical aspects of their roles but their words sounded too rehearsed. To extract all of the intended "omigods" from the audience, the actors need to sound like they meant what they said.
"I'm going to kill myself, Leon" were the first words uttered by freshman John Robert Moss who played Joey in "Leon and Joey," directed by junior Patrick Censoplano. This production remained in the realm of the surreal with an imaginary wood sprite named Mo-Billy (junior Hannah Schneider)and a former practitioner of witchcraft named Gina (freshman Mikayla Park) who performs soul-transferals. The interaction between Mo-Billy and Leon (junior Jacob Frey), was excellent, but the Joey or Gina's scenes couldn't measure up. While awkwardness between two potential lovers is to be expected, awkwardness in delivering lines is a bit harder to explain.
"How He Lied to Her Husband," directed by senior Kate Lieb, gave the audience a hopelessly romantic lover and a calculating adulteress. Though well acted by all, junior Trace Carter and senior David Reynolds presented themselves more like Niles and Frasier Crane than Englishmen. Sophomore Liz Blake could have turned her character up a notch, using her feminine wiles along with her sharp words to manipulate her two admirers.
The only true flaw rested not in the length of the play but the large amounts dialogue between the occurrence of significant events or revelation of crucial information. Suspense can be a valuable asset to a production, but after a certain point, the audience just loses interest.
Maybe the theme of weakness showcased during the two nights of plays served as commentary on the nation's continuing insecurity due to terrorist attacks. Maybe it's just a coincidence. Either way, Director's Workshop came as a welcomed diversion from the incessant work of the last week of classes.
Directors Workshop - ****
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