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Volume CXXXIII, Number 5 |
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Masque and Gown presents: As Bees in Honey Drown
JULIE THOMPSON
STAFF WRITER
Fame, glamour, cheap thrills, seduction, deception-does this sound like
your typical Bowdoin weekend? If not, prepare yourselves, because Masque
and Gown will bring a healthy dose of fast-paced living and glitz to our
idyllic small-town campus this weekend.
Bowdoin's student-run theater group will be staging its
production of As Bees In Honey Drown, written by Douglas Carter Beane,
this weekend, and the subject matter is enough to draw in the most reticent
of theatergoers. Evan Wyler is a young writer who has just begun to make
his way in the world of "creative people," with its epicenter
in, of course, New York City. Evan is quickly pinned the hottest new player
on the scene and is on the verge of becoming certifiably famous--a real
member of the celebrity elite--when he receives a call from a mysterious
woman named Alexa Vere de Vere. Her precise role in this community of
artists is unknown: she seems to undertake the jobs of film and record
producer with equal aplomb, while also managing to have contacts with
most of Hollywood and the music and fashion worlds.
Alexa charms Evan into collaborating on a project with her,
and in the process takes him on a whirlwind tour of her lifestyle, complete
with the priciest hotels and restaúrants, the hippest clubs, and
the most outrageous people imaginable. However, Alexa has far more in
store for Evan than he can ever imagine, and our young writer is thrown
head first into a realm of seduction and trickery far beyond his grasp.
As if this snippet weren't tantalizing enough, Masque and
Gown's actual production of Bees is effortlessly smooth. The play is superbly
cast, featuring, among others, Sam Cohan '05 as the fresh-faced Evan Wyler,
Tara Morin '05 as the mysterious Alexa Vere de Vere, and Andrew Keshner
'03 as several lively characters, one of whom is a delightfully irate
British rocker.
Morin had only praise to give on the subject of the production:
"Watching the piece come together over the last few weeks has been
exciting and rewarding. Everyone has put a great deál of work into
the piece; director, cast, and crew alike…the performance will be
a portrait of our dedication to the production."
Ian LeClair '02 is in the director's chair for the piece, a role he is
delighted to occupy. Said LeClair of his work on the project: "In
thinking about the show what ended up being most important to me was the
truth of these characters' situations: dilemmas regarding identity, love,
deception…What it means to have everything that you think is stable
in your life be suddenly put into doubt."
He was also enthusiastic about the effort of the cast and
crew: "Everyone has worked so hard, and been so dedicated, and I
just can't give them enough credit. The show is really hard to put together…I
think that's what makes it so exciting when it works…the feeling
that despite all the obstacles and everything, we've really created something."
As Bees in Honey Drown will be performed from Thursday to Saturday at 8 p.m. in Wish Theater, with $1 tickets on sale at Smith Union .