As I hurtle towards the end of spring semester with the elegance of a toddler-driven bumper car, I see increasing numbers of my peers coming down with the affliction of tech week. Those of us with theater-makers in our lives will surely recognize the symptoms: the dark undereyes, slept-through classes and generally incoherent theater-babble exhibited by what once appeared to be a normal person that leave us wondering if we are witnessing the beginnings of a mental breakdown. For the lucky rest of us, however, their hard work means that we may enjoy a veritable smorgasbord of vivid, thought-provoking stories each weekend. In just the past two weekends, I have enjoyed three productions, each with its own insights into the nature of life and love.
From April 2 to 4, the Philaletheis Society’s production of “The Realistic Joneses” ran in the Susan Stein Shiva Theater. The play, written by Will Eno, is surreal and absurd, yet quietly profound. It examines two middle-aged couples through their morally gray search for human connection in the isolating environment that is American suburbia. The show invents a fictional neurodegenerative disease, Harriman-Leavey Syndrome, highlighting the struggles faced by the afflicted and their spouses. As the characters traverse their mundane lives, Eno’s dialogue slips fluently between bone-dry humor and surprising insight.
The set, designed by director Kate Powell ’27, instantly transported viewers into the polished yet impersonal world of the American suburb: the white-picket fences, the generic patio and the grocery store shelves with boxes of instant mac and cheese—which were unfortunately revealed to be empty when I asked if I could take them home with me. Under Powell’s direction, actors Polly Dickinson ’26, Benji Boyd ’29, Brendan McDonnell ’29 and Ella Manhardt ’28 effectively brought a matter-of-fact delivery to Eno’s bizarre dialogue, animating characters that were deeply strange and somehow so familiar. With the play’s conclusion, my friends and I walked out into the evening discussing the absurdness of language and its imperfect relationship with reality.
Mere hours after the team behind “The Realistic Joneses” packed up and moved out of the Shiva, Idlewild Theatre Ensemble’s production of “Stop Kiss” moved in. Written by Diana Son in the late ’90s, the play follows two women’s timid and unspoken first venture into queer love in New York City, interspersed with glimpses into the aftermath of a violent hate crime resulting from their first kiss. The characters are thoughtfully crafted and multidimensional; they are self-assured in many ways, making their tentativeness in falling all the more touching.
Idlewild was the perfect ensemble to tell this story effectively. As a troupe made of only members of marginalized genders, including many queer women, they told the story with sensitivity and heart. I found that the portrayal of the male side characters by female actors to be especially effective. The romantic leads were played thoughtfully by Lilly Masters ’26 and Justine Rabley ’27. Under the guidance of first-time director Maya Sbardellati ’29, the actresses exquisitely captured the soft unbelievingness of a first foray into queer romance. At the same time, the protagonist’s journey in the aftermath of the violent hate crime was handled with gentle solemnity. Senior Lillien Sherwood’s lighting design shone in this piece, sending a faint pink glow over the stage to illuminate the sudden, unexpected flashes of romance between the characters.
While the members of Idlewild were bringing this story to life, the Harlequin Travelers were simultaneously putting on a production of their own. Their show “Kodachrome,” written by Adam Szymkowicz, examines life, love and loss through the objective lens of a photographer. Szymkowicz’s characters are passionate and hopeful, portrayed with a comforting simplicity. The show’s protagonist, a photographer, captures the emotions and actions present in everyday life without assigning them any greater meanings or morals—a portrayal of love that is refreshingly honest, simple and true.
Maintaining the Travelers’ tradition of performing plays in untraditional spaces, the show went up in a lecture hall in Taylor Hall. The smaller stage did not hinder the overall effect of the play; rather, the simple technical design allowed the vibrant, yearning characters to shine on their own. I found Sophomore Wren Buehler’s [Disclaimer: Buehler is an Assistant Humor Editor for The Miscellany News] gentle portrayal of the Gravedigger to be especially touching, as well as Senior Xander Shumaker’s starry-eyed and terrified take on the Young Man.
In the hectic storm that is the final month of school, I have found student theater to be a welcoming space for personal reflection and repose. College is a time filled with big questions on the nature of love and life, and I am so grateful to the student theatermakers who venture to provide some answers each season. Each of these shows made their own insights into love’s nature, commenting on its surrealness, its subtlety or its simplicity. All of this is to say, I highly recommend taking a couple hours out of your evening to attend some student theater before the semester is out. I think you will find it is fueled by curiosity, passion and camaraderie.