The Online Reflector

By Nicki Crisci, Opinion Editor

Stepping into the Studio Theatre for the Student-Directed Productions provided an unexpected thrill to the evening’s theatre experience. Before the plays even began, a Monkees track played along with the sounds and actions of three actors from the first play who performed like monkeys, equipped with bananas and monkey hats.

Senior Jeffrey Dalstrom directed “Words, Words, Words” and “The Philadelphia,” while senior Kristin Sollenberger directed “A Period Piece” and “The Problem.” The whole production, they said, was at least a year-long process.

Being their first lead-directing experience at UIndy (Sollenberger having assistant directed “Speak Truth to Power” and “Don’t Dress for Dinner”), their impressive talents were displayed in every aspect of the production. Even the designs and props went together in a simple, yet effective way.

“There is a uniqueness being an actor, designer and stage manager and, at the same time, director. It provides a real cohesiveness,” Sollenberger said.

While each individual play was unique, there was, at the same time, a cohesiveness to the whole night, with the laughter of the audience, themes of relationships and personal philosophies and obscenities making the plays mesh together.

The first play of the night, “Words, Words, Words,” was performed effectively by Lucas Souder, Brandon Reed and Chelsea Wood. Each actor was believable in his or her animal mimicry and never lost character or a chance to get a rise out of the audience. The whole idea behind the story was amusing and performed to the best of the actors’ abilities. Of the three actors, Wood particularly stood out, with her continued exuberance and impromptu scenes on the stage before and after the play.

The plot to “A Period Piece” was a little confusing when Manny Casillas and Kathryn Reinhardt, an arguing couple, were joined by Drew Pastorek and Mason Absher. Suddenly, the couples switched partners, and Casillas started arguing with Absher, and Reinhardt with Pastorek. However, the actors cleared up the confusion throughout the scenes of the play. The overall message, that couples fight over the same things even today, was a prevalent theme that the actors performed in a comical way. While there were obscene dialogues, they were not added for crude humor. They actually added to the personalities of the characters. Casillas and Pastorek stepped up and played their roles as substandard men in the relationship really well, mirroring each other through the time period skillfully, not to mention Absher’s hilarious role as the angry man with attitude coupled with the talents and witty accusations and comebacks of Reinhardt.

In “The Philadelphia,” the audience was in for a treat with the pairing of Reed and Souder, each as much an eccentric character as the other. From the manic opening, when Reed runs onto the set, and the comic ending, when Souder rushes out of the theater, this play was humorous to the last Philly cheesesteak. They were able to reverse their roles in a flash—Reed became the laid back go-getter while Souder finally fell to pieces in his own ‘Philadelphia.’ Emma Davis also played her role well, advancing and complicating the comical dialogue between Reed and Souder.

“The Problem” was arguably the best play of the night and received the most laughs of the four plays. Crystal Vissers and Drew Pastorek convincingly played their twisted, married couple role without flaw.

The audience was prepared for a promising play when Peggy Lee’s “Fever” played before the start of the scenes and Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s get it on” ended it.

Vissers’ and Pastorek’s varied role-playing really had the audience believing that the characters were discussing real events in their lives. Vissers did an excellent job of being comedic and could make a person’s jaw drop with the scenarios she described to her husband. Even Pastorek’s apparent composure was highly convincing until the reality of the scene came to light. It was a shock that had the audience rolling in the aisles.

Overall, the whole theater experience was extremely enjoyable and the directing skills of Dalstrom and Sollenberger created a great experience for the audience.

They both said that they hoped to direct again in the future and that these plays represent a suitable starting point for their careers.

“I really like seeing the whole picture and being the hands that meld everything together,” Dalstrom said.

The plays, which had performances on Nov. 30, Dec.1-2 and 6-8, successfully ended the 2007-2008 theatre season.

Such an end creates much anticipation for the dinner theatre production “Red Herring,” assistant directed by Dalstrom, whichpremiers after winter break.

“I hope they [the audience] had fun. And if they enjoyed it, then I did my job,” Sollenberger said. “While it’s about having fun, they may have pondered about their own relationships at the same time.”