By JORDAN MCLEMORE
Columnist
Theatre Review: Last week amidst the rainy weather, the Northwestern Theatre department hosted the two-night performance of “Potpourri: A Night of Laughs.” “Night of Laughs” is a bit of an overstatement. Though these were student-directed short plays, that doesn’t account for the poor acting and lack of attention to detail.
The first short play was “4 a.m. (Open All Night)” by Bob Krakower and directed by Taylor Morris. Nick Coffey (as the role of the man), Brianna Louthan (as Jim), Natalie Sacket (as the woman) and Nathan Sacket (as Doc) seemed quite comfortable onstage with each other. Of the second night’s performances, this was the most enjoyable to watch.
There was a sense of chemistry between each performer. The play’s plot centers on a man who wonders if there is more to life than staying home all the timewith his girlfriend. The dialogue felt unnatural and forced. Coffey’s over-the-top energy felt out of place and unnecessarily dramatic. Morris’ direction was well-done, as the blocking and positioning for each character helped create immersion in the story.
Kimberly Weast, professor of theatre arts, was the director of the second performance, “While You Were Sleeping,” by Alex Brown. This short play is about a series of misleading text messages sent in the middle of the night, unbeknownst to the sender. The cast included Tori Hurley, Arthur (AJ) Bohlmann, Megan Metcalf and Michelle Penner.
While this play had moments of humor, the acting took the viewer out of story and back to the stage of Herod Hall. There was no tact in delivery, especially on Hurley’s part; it was like watching a cold read of rehearsal. While Weast’s direction of the play seemed organized and professional, the play felt more like a learning experience for the actors instead of a performance for the audience. It stood out as the low point of the second night.
The third play of the night was “La Mouche,” directed by Trenton Judd and written by Stephen Bittrich. The cast featured Jordan Evans (as the customer), Scott Bartley (as Pierre) and Patrick Wilson (as Jacques). This is a story of a man who finds a fly in his soup and causes a dispute between two clueless waiters.
The play is written to be slapstick funny. Evans’ performance was fun to watch, with his well-timed and subtle humor. The critique here was the poor execution of the directing and the articulation of the accents. Bartley and Wilson spent the whole play trying to speak with French accents. This made it difficult for the audience members to understand what they were actually saying. Judd should have made it a bigger point to have his actors articulate their lines.
Tracey Meza directed “The Chocolate Affair” by Stephanie Allison Walker. This play is about the struggles a wife and mother go through on a daily basis to do the right thing. The cast was Arthur (AJ) Bohlmann (as Mr. Goodbar), Ryley Kurtz (as M&M) and Kate Henning (as Beverly). Henning as the main character did a fantastic job of portraying her character’s struggle. I loved watching her onstage and her performance carried the show. This play was much deeper than the others and therefore was a taller order to perform. The duality of good vs. evil was not executed by Bohlmann and Kurtz well enough for everyone to grasp the deeper context. Henning, however, went from comical to serious, and we learned why she was in a seedy motel room eating candy. All in all, not terrible, and Meza was a decent director in this somber story.
Michelle Penner was the director for the final play, “Tis Not Me She Loves” by Steven Stack. The cast was Jordan Lyles (as Ty), Erin Hopkins (as Lady McCroy), Karen Linstrum (as Lady Hatplain), Richmond Adams (as Cap Hatplain), Nick Coffey (as Romero McCroy), Patrick Wilson (as Monty), Natalie Sacket (as Julia Hatplain), and Nathan Sacket (as Merc). There is obviously a family feud and they want to keep the fighting going. When the feud falters, they are willing to do anything to get it back; the only way to do that is through forbidden love. It’s Romeo and Juliet meets Hatfields and McCoys. The catch is that Romero McCroy and Julia Hatplain don’t actually love each other. It was by far one of the funniest of the plays to watch and second on the list for favorites. The characters seemed to instantly mesh well on stage. Adams and Linstrum were enjoyable. Penner’s directing was among of the best of the night. Her work was excellent with each actor prepared to deliver each line and were blocked appropriately.
To many, it felt as though these plays were rushed and were not polished to their fullest potential. All in all, the “Night of Laughs” was not quite as advertised. There was definitely room for improvement in each of the shows.