The Barnstormers brought a chill to campus this unseasonably warm weekend with the performance of their Intersession show, Lucille Fletcher's Night Watch.
Directed by junior Gerrad Taylor and produced by junior Richard Zheng, the play featured a relatively small cast of student actors and took place on one set tht became increasingly claustrophobic as the plot grew thicker.
The play opens with Elaine Wheeler (played by senior Christen Cromwell) pacing the library of her Manhattan home in the quiet pre-dawn hours, plagued by what is apparently recurrent insomnia. It is soon revealed that the source of Elaine's insomnia is a tragic event in her past, one that pre-dates her marriage to John Wheeler (sophomore Mike Alfieri), who wakes and tries to comfort his troubled wife.
But no sooner does John exit the stage in the first scene that Elaine lets out a bone-chilling scream. She claims to have seen the body of a dead man in the abandoned building across the alley. When the police arrive, they find no trace of a body in the building.
Still unsettled, Elaine continues to keep watch at the window, and soon she sees yet another body in the building. After the first apparently false report, though, the police aren't so anxious to humor Elaine's calls for help.
Her husband, having grown increasingly concerned by Elaine's behavior, suggests that she see a psychiatrist and perhaps be institutionalized. From this point, the story jets off into a suspenseful, gripping tale as the mystery develops twists, turns and knots that lead ultimately to an eerie reveal.
The Barnstormers' production of Night Watch can boast plenty of strengths, the most apparent of which is the actors' portrayal of Fletcher's characters. Cromwell, in the lead role, had a formidable job in conveying the frantic terror and desperation of Elaine Wheeler. She carried it out effectively, slipping on and off the various masks Elaine wears through the play. There were moments, though, when Cromwell's delivery of Elaine's distressed cries were too much for the small stage of Arellano Theater, going so far beyond what was called for from Fletcher's script that it was just off-putting.
Alfieri, as Elaine's husband, also gave a convincing performance, in his case that of a man pushed to his wit's end by his wife's apparently worsening mental-health problems. Another notable performance came from junior Toni Del Sorbo as Blanche Cook, Elaine's nurse and close friend. Although the majority of her lines were delivered admirably, Del Sorbo, like Cromwell, tended toward overacting in the more dramatic scenes of the play.
Comic relief from the tension and suspense in Night Watch came from two characters, both of which were well-cast and well-performed. As Dr. Appleby, the overly gregarious and flamboyant neighbor of the Wheelers, senior Raphael Krut-Landau delivered perhaps the most memorable performance of the show. He commanded the stage during his scenes, which Fletcher clearly intended for this character. Sophomore Yagmur Muftuoglu was just as effective as Helga, the Wheelers' nosy control freak of a housekeeper. Her German accent is particularly notable, as Muftuoglu kept it clear and consistent throughout.
The direction of Night Watch by junior Gerrad Taylor was also generally strong. His work is to be commended, especially as this was his first time directing a full-length play. The blocking and movement on the stage was dynamic and logical, keeping the story moving swiftly. However, at least some of the responsibility for the overacting mentioned above must lie with the director, particularly in those moments when the actors, in their attempts to convey the exigency of the situation, were almost incomprehensible.
The greatest weakness of this production of Night Watch concerned the play's setting. Night Watch was first performed in 1972, and several quick references in the script place the action at about that time.
However, a host of anachronisms in the Barnstormers production made the question of "when" a tough one for the audience to answer. In the opening scene, Elaine appears in a long nightgown that places her in the early 20th century rather, and the richly decorated room in which she stands and the various props back up this initial conclusion about time.
By contrast, some of the later costumes, like a jogging suit obviously from 2009, contradict this. It is true that student theater comes with inherent limitations, but the result here is a play considerably weakened by the disorienting inconsistencies in establishing the setting.
In fact, though the play is regarded as a highly chilling, suspenseful murder mystery, this production ended up feeling flat. Even with the swift pace and exemplary acting, the production fell short of meeting Night Watch's full potential for creepiness and suspense.
