Barnstormers unveil talent at freshmen one-acts

If the Freshman One-Act Showcase this past weekend was any indication, the Barnstormers are going to have a lot of talent on their hands for quite a while.

This year's showcase featured ?- besides quality performances - humor and nonsense, as well as a number of call-outs from enthusiastic freshmen in the audience.

The first play, "Surprise!," by Mark Harvey Levine, concerned a couple in a restaurant, on the verge of breaking up because of the boyfriend Peter's (freshman John Wedemeyer) ability to see into the future - but only by two minutes.

The girlfriend Whitney (freshman Mary Strong) is infuriated by his habit of finishing the ends of her sentences and predicting her breakfast orders. The performance was funny and well-timed, and Strong's exaggerated acting fit the mood.

For example, the directors, senior Cara Selick and sophomore Carol Santoro, had the actors throwing a lot of waffles.

Overall the play was a cute but corny sketch ?- with the waitress, played charmingly by freshman Sarenka Smith, ending the show by kissing Peter.

The second show, similarly comedic, was "Family 2.0" by Walter Wykes. The scene opens with freshman Seth Ripman barging into a woman's home and announcing that he is her new husband.

The wife (freshman Tricia Decker) protests, but he wants to throw off his old life and start something new. He tries to win her over with flowers and poetry.

Decker's reactions, from trepidation to enthusiasm, showed great comedic control, right in line with the over-the-top, jokey feel of the show. Ripman too had a commanding grasp on his character. Even the actors playing the kids, freshmen Tyler Kim and Cassandra Gandle, were eager to yell along with the others - enthusiastic acting if not artful.

And of course, when the ex-husband (freshman Alec Meacham) comes home, he joins the craziness by becoming the family dog. The directing by sophomore Lauren Lutz, which involved a lot of exaggerated gestures, helped keep this play coherent, but with hilarious results.

The next play, "The Man Who Couldn't Dance," by Jason Katims, was somewhat out of place in this showcase, as it had greater emotion and depth, although it did start off humorously.

In the play, the married woman, Gail, was played by freshman Victoria Bata, who somewhat lacked presence at first, but got much more comfortable and convincing as the play continued. Freshman Harrison Johnson held the audience's attention playing her intellectual ex-flame Eric, an articulate, bitingly funny and depressed character.

In the play, Gail has Eric over for dinner, and shows him her new baby. In a quiet upstairs room the two characters discuss their past romance and the lives they have now.

This is when he confesses that he can't dance due to his mental hang-ups, a problem which represents what he believes to be his overall failing in life. The director, junior Mike Alfieri, really brought out the best in the actors, including some tears, and created a truly moving show.

After the intermission came "The Universal Language," by David Ives, a play which required a more elaborate set, not to mention incredible memorization by the actors, considering that much of the script was nonsense words.

The premise of the play was that Mr. Finaginagan, played irrepressibly by freshman Ian Cash, has a language program for Unamunda, "da linkwa looniversahl," or the new universal language.

Talking purely in Unamunda, a nonsense language that nevertheless was essentially understandable, Mr. Finaginagin convinces the apologetic, stuttering Dawn (freshman Sophie Grossman) to embrace the language and find confidence in herself.

This show was especially fun, and the directing by junior Rob Keleher kept the show moving, literally, with a lot of exaggerated gestures and even some dancing.

The next play, "Foreplay," by David Ives, was directed by sophomores Eliza Vasconcellos and Matt Sartucci, who had a lot of work to do to keep the parts of this play clear. But their efforts were successful, as this show got some of the biggest laughs.

The plot involved three iterations of a date on a mini-golf course. The same man, Chuck, was played with varying believability by freshmen Oliver Roth, Jeremy Dolinko and Archie Henry.

Three different girls were being taken on dates - Amy (freshman Julia Zalcman), Annie (freshman Hilary Barker) and Alma (freshman Rachel Ayers). The girls seemed to have the most fun, and were undeniably funny with the double entendres, especially Ayers, who was effortlessly hilarious in her quirky role as the "weird girl" who got to one-up Chuck at every turn.

The moment that had the audience screaming with laughter was when the lights went out, and the sighs and moans that had peppered the barely veiled metaphor of the mini-golf game became purely sexual.

The last play, "The Hardy Boys and The Mystery of Where Babies Come From," by Christopher Durang, took nonsense to another level. This spoof featured the clueless Hardy Boys, played by freshmen Andy Weld and Chris Hampton.

This hapless duo was solving the mystery of a girl at school who was rumored to have "a bun in the oven." The plot also involved Mr. Hardy, played by freshman Chris DiGregorio, and the lusty Nurse Rached, played by Glennis Markison.

Although this show was funny for being so ridiculous, the directing by senior Mike Wills wasn't always clear. The flow of the play was broken by set and sweater changes, and it was not immediately apparent at the end that it was over.

However, this may have been the construct of the script itself, and altogether this show was a good ending to a thoroughly enjoyable Freshman Showcase.