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Volume CXXXIII, Number 10 |
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Theater with food
LISA PETERSON
STAFF WRITER
Masque and Gown transported Bowdoin students and guests into the past with three Dinner Theater performances on November 17, 18, and 19 in Main Lounge in Moulton Union. The group performed three short plays while spectators dined on a meal catered by Dining Services.
The lounge was transformed into a dining parlor with tables bedecked in white and blue tablecloths, cloth napkins, and candle centerpieces. Each act took place in the center of the room with folding screens providing stage wings.
A hostess greeted guests at the door and directed them to their seats and the buffet table. The presentation was strikingly formal, including members of dining services garbed in black and white.
The group had been preparing for the performance since the end of October. Davin Michaels '06, one of the directors, emphasized the short time frame that the actors and directors had to work with. "It was a high pressure situation and a challenge for everyone involved."
Despite that, the cast, as well as the audience, seemed pleased with the results. Ben Rosen '07, one of the actors, said, "It went off great. I'm proud of what we did."
Dinner Theater opened with The Vise written by Luigi Pirandello and directed by Davin Michaels '06. A deviation from the other performances, The Vise was longer and more dramatic. A tale of a torrid affair, the play explored the intricacies of the human conscience. Stephen Carlson '07 played the tortured lover, Antonio, alongside F‚ Vivas '04 as the guilty wife, Giulia. Ben Rosen '07 was the enraged husband, Andrea, and Kathryn Papanek '07 played the courteous maid, Anna. With crafty foreshadowing and building suspense, the actors worked their way to a compelling ending, in which the lights dimmed after a gun shot rang out.
After a quick change in set, the audience enjoyed Arabian Nights written by David Ives and directed by Frank Skornia '04. Short in duration, but not lacking in wit or humor, Arabian Nights narrated a discourse between a shopkeeper and a customer communicating by means of an eccentric interpreter. Emily Abrons '06 and Marc Donnelly '07 played the unknowing pair, Flora and Norman. Jasmine Cronin '04 was the flamboyant interpreter, acting as a matchmaker and twisting their words around to her own fancy. By the end, the pair fell in love and seemed unaware of the translator hovering around them. The audience didn't stop laughing as Cronin flapped her multi-colored coat, amused herself with the fabricated translations and shouted "A hole in the ground!" whenever someone said "Well."
Masque and Gown saved the best for last with a scene from Art written by Yasmina Reza and directed by James Nylund '06. The plot centered on an expensive all-white painting that Serge buys. It explores male friendship and, of course, what can be considered art. The modern intellectual Serge was played by Stephen Carlson '07. Lucas Warton '06 played Serge's sophisticated, slightly neurotic friend, Marc, who thinks the painting is "shit," and Anthony DiNicola '07 played the passive Yvan, who tries to please both sides. With humorous, witty banter, the group kept the audience in stitches.
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