Student-directed plays tackle themes of injustice, blind loyalty
Actors Katie Gainey, Brad Hinshaw, LaMont Hendrix and Alex Oberheide tackle the issues of where babies come from in one of the student-directed plays.
By Crystal Abrell | Opinion Editor
The University of Indianapolis Theater Department hosts four separate student-directed plays April 17-19 and the 23-25. Both plays were held in the Studio Theatre, two plays each weekend.
The first play, “Say De Kooning,” was written by Lanford Wilson and directed by senior Manny Casillas. The second play, “Entertaining Mr. Helms,” was written by Christopher Durang and directed by senior Lucas Souder.
The cast of “Say De Kooning’s” consisted of Rico Ewing, playing Bob, a homosexual artist in distress, Chelsey Wood and Kyrsten Lyster, playing Mandy and Willie, two female lovers.
The underlying message of “Say De Kooning” aims at the very strains of modern-life we all hope to escape from by summering at the beach or elsewhere. Not even there, though, can they avoid the pitfalls of their own demanding personalities and everyday lives.
According to actress, Chelsey Wood, “Say De Kooning” was based on modern-day relationships.
“I would say the underlying meaning of “Say De Kooning” is about relationships and how if you assume the worst from someone, you may miss out on something. If you think they are always doing something wrong, you might miss out on the truth or something truly special,” Wood said.
Overall, “Say De Kooning” was comedic, eccentric and well rehearsed. Actors and staff practiced over a month on all the plays. Even though the starting actors took about 15 minutes it seemed to get into character comfortably and the blocking was a bit shaky and inorganic “Say De Kooning” was more than a success.
The second play, “Entertaining Mr. Helms” was short, but sweet. The play, surprisingly lasting ten minutes, was full or humor and sarcasm, but ultimately more less a parody on modern, American society.
The beginning of the performance was interrupted by the cell phone of a student. Souder called the play to a halt and very abruptly ordered out the student who had the phone.
According to Souder, the theater staff was interested in everyone’s reactions to the play.
“All the plays are stylized, but are supposed to be funny with an underlying meaning that somehow connected all four themes in a very different way,” Souder said.
The second pair of plays are titled: “One for the Road” and “The Hardy Boys and the Mystery of Where Babies Come From.”
“One for the Road” was written by Harold Pinter and directed by Chelsea Anderson. “The Hardy Boys and the Mystery of Where Babies Come From” was written by Christopher Durang and directed by Souder. The plays will be held April 23-25.
“One for the Road” is about a family being held captive in an unknown area where a military man questions them. The play centers around a family that suffers a terrible violence that happens off-stage during interrogation by Nicholas, on-stage. Alex Oberheide plays Nicholas, the main character in the play, which is an interesting role for this young, comedic actor. Anderson did a scene from this play last spring in the night of scenes put on by the theater department’s “Night of Scenes.”
“The Hardy Boys and the Mystery of Where Babies Come From” is a parody of the Hardy Boys, who find out that Nancy Drew has to get married because she has a “bun in the oven.” So the Hardy Boys begin pondering on the basis of intercourse.
So far, the plays have been a success for the department. Wood hopes the audience will continue to grow.
“The more plays we do the more students that come out and invite their friends to come out,” Wood said. “The themes of patriotism and self liberation are shown through all the plays. Maybe they will say theatre is actually kind of cool! Spreading the word is a great thing for our department.”
