The first week of school is problematic for a theatre critic as there’s nothing to criticize. Therefore, this week will be an overview of the coming student theatre season. This semester is a light one—only eight shows through Second Stage, our student theatre production company—but The Argus is letting me talk a bit as though I know anything. Silly thousand-eyed monster.
First up in the ’92 we have “The Game We Used to Play,” produced by the building project, a production team comprised of Max Goldblatt ’05 and Michael Rau ’05. They developed the show over the summer and performed it in Chicago. Both Wesleyan theatre veterans with various acting and directing credits to their names, Goldblatt and Rau drew up a series of rules for the piece—no breaking the fourth wall, for example, and no standard theatrical lighting instruments—with the disclaimer that some would be broken along the way. Goldblatt’s production of “Want’s Unwisht Work” kicked off the Fall ’03 season in the renovated ’92 Theater, with much-needed fanfare. “The Game We Used to Play,” a minimalist, rather mysterious piece will likely prove another great way to open the fall season. The house size will be unusually small, but they’re offering seven performances. So come one, come all. “The Game We Used to Play” goes up Sept. 16-18.
Three weeks later there are two shows. “WASP,” written by Steve Martin (yes, that Steve Martin) and directed by Greg Malen ’07, will be sharing the ’92 with “No Sex Please, We’re British,” written by Alistair Foot and Anthony Marnot and directed by Jeff Goetz ’06. Both are one-act comedies: the first is an absurdist satire of suburban normalcy, the second a British sex farce. Malen, emblematic of last year’s strikingly industrious frosh class, is a true workhorse. Last year he was not only light designer for six shows, but also acted skillfully in one of those six. Goetz, too, began earning his chops last fall, directing the political satire “The Mouse That Roared” in the Campus Center MPR. “No Sex Please” should be raucous, bawdy and full of fun. From “WASP,” expect Martin’s trademark ridiculous comedy paired with stirring poetry. Both shows go up as separate performances, Oct. 7-9.
The following two shows are several weeks apart but I’d like to mention the directors together. Jess Chayes ’07 is directing John Guare’s “The House of Blue Leaves,” and Hallie Cooper-Novack ’07 is directing Lanford Wilson’s “Lemon Sky”. Chayes and Cooper-Novack are not only further examples of 2007 wunderkind, but offer the tantalizing promise of the Female Director, the rare and elusive beast whose Wesleyan population seems to be growing of late. At least five or six can be identified on campus, and there are surely more waiting to strike. (Sadly, super senior Sara Bremen will not be directing this semester as, happily, she will be acting.) The stage has its version of the chick flick (shall we call it The Broad Way?), but none of Wesleyan’s female-identified dramatists seem to be occupying themselves with oh-so-ovarian playwrights like Wendy Wasserstein. Instead, Chayes and Cooper-Novack are tackling complex and universal themes that speak to all of us.
“The House of Blue Leaves” is a darkly comedic drama about that old American Dream: in 1965, while the Pope is visiting New York, the protagonist Artie lives in Queens with his mentally ill wife, clutching desperately to his dreams of songwriting fame. His mistress gives him plenty of sex but won’t put out when it comes to her fantastic cooking. Throw in some nuns, explosions, and a Hollywood producer and end up with an unpredictable and surprisingly accessible descent into human hopelessness. Chayes was last year’s eminent stage manager/assistant director, and her solo debut provides much to anticipate. “The House of Blue Leaves” goes up Oct. 28-30 in the ’92.
As for “Lemon Sky,” Lanford Wilson has described the play as autobiographical, depicting the attempted reconciliation between a college student and his estranged father. The story explores themes of abandonment and sexuality. Cooper-Novack was charming in last spring’s “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” (also by Steve Martin), and it will be interesting to see her direct. “Lemon Sky” goes up November 18-20.
Following these shows is “Life x 3,”written by Yasmina Reza and directed by Logan Starr ’06, who directed Edward Albee’s “The American Dream” in Spring ’03. Starr has proven to be an energetic performer with an eye for both humor and psychology—skills that should prove useful with “Life x 3.” This play combines Reza’s rich use of language with a structural twist: the story is repeated three times, showing three different outcomes of the same awkward dinner party. We can also expect surprises from set designer Nick Weiss-Richmond ’07, who last spring was an innovative workaholic on “Quills.” I personally am looking forward to “Life x 3” being a full-fledged Theatre Experience that makes great use of Second Stage’s resources—and is a bargain at one act. “Life x 3” goes up Dec. 2-4 in the ’92.
The season wraps up with two shows, both original student works. One of them is brought to us by the fledgling Wesleyan Playwrights’ Collective (WPC), a new group (coordinated by Halley Feiffer ’07) devoted to the development of student-written plays at Wesleyan. The script will be written over the course of the semester. For Wesleyan, where original works are a rarity, this venture is long overdue. Hopefully the WPC will help build an atmosphere that allows more playwrights to come out of their shells. The WPC production goes up December 9-11.
And finally we have “Pirate vs. Ninja: Ninja vs. Pirate,” a potential extravaganza of bizarre awesomeness created by super senior Joaquín Cotler. Cotler has researched and written a program of pirate music (who knew that was even a genre?), and his singing pirates will wage war against dancing ninjas, turning the ’92 into an elaborate battleground. I’m wide-eyed even writing that much about it. It goes up Dec. 9-11.
That’s this semester for Second Stage shows. There are also two faculty productions in the ’92 and a thesis in the CFA, but more on those later. Next week: What is Second Stage?
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