Four people confused about French Toast. Three two-faced actors. Two senile old ladies. And one comical play. The Crate ran from Thursday, October 24 to Sunday, October 27 and was a compilation of short stories and scenes inspired by Shel Silverstein, John Franceschini and Mary Louise Wilson.
The first act was loosely strung together by the theme of misunderstanding and mishearing. “It’s Only a Minute a Guy,” starring freshman Tony Moreno and sophomore MacKenzie Bland, was the highlight of act one. The scene followed anxious Betty, played by Bland, as she works her way through a dating program, in which the dates only last a minute. All her creepy and potential suitors were played by Moreno. The strange and hilarious dates, including a cowboy and Indian guru, left the audience cracking up, and the twist at the end was surprising yet endearing.
Also from Act 1 was “The Lifeboat Is Sinking,” which revolved around a married couple arguing over the sinking of a hypothetical lifeboat. Starring sophomores Maddie Walker and Nicholas Reifler, this scene, although lengthy, was comedic and well done. Reifler’s anguish about choosing between throwing his mother or wife out of the boat was dramatic and resulted in a good reaction from the audience. Walker also had a believable and commendable portrayal of an insane and controlling wife.
Act 2 provided skits from Mary Louise Wilson, all of which pertained to theatre and actors. Most of these scenes poked fun at the quirks of actors and the life revolving theatre theater. While everyone understood most of these jokes, a few catered mostly to theatre people.
The scene “Deer Play” stood out for its strong acting and strange plot. Following the retired life of a former actress, the scene was about the actress’s obsession with her garden. Junior Kiko Illagen’s portrayal of the deer at the end of the skit was completely unexpected. The twist shocked the audience and left everyone a little creeped out. Everyone involved in that scene especially did a great job with keeping the audience entertained and involved.
Similar to the critiques of most short stories, the play struggled from lack of character development. The characters, unlike the dynamic ones from last year’s musical, Mame, remained static. The audience was given little opportunity to become familiar with the characters, and as a result occasionally felt disconnected from them.
The theater department had to make some other adjustments this year. After five influential seniors graduated, they have had to adapt and transform. “We’ve lost some good talent, but we are always getting new people. That’s the magic of the theater,” Illagen said. He said that new people are always coming in, including a huge onset of freshmen.
“We now have about ten or fifteen of the ninth graders… and they all have so much talent,” Reifler said. He added that the theatre department wants to have more people come to each show, especially the spring musical, The King and I.
Walker said that while last year they focused on staying true to the script and not ad-libbing, this year the goal was to stay as supportive as possible. The theatre department has a lot on its plate leading up to the spring, but with the talent they have this year, expect an amazing spring musical. The Crate was a “crate” start to a fantastic year of theatre.
