The Forge

I've always found that expression rather amusing. The personification of an entire body of practices as one's proverbial date, one with whom you spend the whole evening and speaks nothing except that which you endeavor to receive of it.

But enough about that. This evening, while my friends opted to study or game or watch the premiere of a rather notorious business spoof's fourth season, i slathered some pomade in my English garden of a hairstyle and sped across the road to snag a seat for the TAP One Act Festival's opening night. (Tau Alpha Pi, aka TAP, is the college theatre honorary; the One Act Festival is a series of performances, each involving five student-directed single-act plays, sponsored and assembled by said honorary).

I really had no idea what to expect going into the performances, except that i had to be there as a member of the World Drama class so i may as well enjoy myself. I arrived ten minutes early (exactly five minutes after my ticket's power to ensure me a seat expired) and chose a spot off of stage left in the second row. I looked across the performance area and recognized several peers and professors, and proceeded to ponder the single-sheet program i'd been handed at the door. Out of the corner of my eye i noticed a blonde and a friend take their seats beside me, but thought little of it at the time. The program promised five very different plays, each accompanied by a quotation from various people of various degrees of fame. A chair was positioned to my left on-stage; across from it a large piece of luggage. The lights flickered and died, as did the voices. Two figures stepped in through the darkness, and it was time for the festival to begin.

Miss You
There is nothing so annoying as to have two people talking when you're busy interrupting. -Mark Twain
The play begins with the ringing of a telephone. The young woman in the chair answers to be greeted by the enthusiastic voice of what we can only assume is the woman's husband. He tells her that he misses her. He tells her this many times. She seems, to say the least, less enthusiastic than one might expect. What follows is a series of double and triple interruptions as the audience observes an entanglement of lovers and liars with outrageous personality types: a pathetic husband and a conniving one, the chipper wife and the raging one. The last of these, in my opinion, steals the show.

The Way of All Fish
Enemies are so stimulating. -Katherine Hepburn
When Jesse Aukeman, coordinator of the festival, refused to give much away about this play in drama class today, i confess i didn't understand what could possibly be so grand a secret as to merit such confidentiality. Now i do. Although all of the plays were spectacular in their own ways (and so different it's futile to draw much comparison) this was my favorite. As you'll understand upon seeing the play (or, if you are not to be able to see the play, after i publish my extensive spoiler-laden review this weekend) this is probably because i am a sadistic person and very capable of sympathizing with the assistant--er, secretary--and her aspirations. I'll say no more than Jesse said in class; that is, it's a play about a boss and her secretary, the latter of which has certain . . . eccentricities.

Ferris Wheel
Always do what you are afraid to do. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson's line is quite fitting for this performance. As you might infer from the title, the action here takes place within a Ferris wheel carriage. The plot's not the important thing--two strangers meet on an (apparently, considering the time frame,) enormous Ferris wheel and get stuck at the top. The girl is chatty but comes from less than perfect roots while the gent is a traveling salesman with some extra baggage of his own. It's a straightforward romantic comedy but the characters are so quirky, and each exchange so well-executed by the performers, that one soon forgives the writer for having constructed such a predictable ending. Miss VanPatter's performance is particularly convincing; i can't imagine what sort of mannerisms she actually possesses though i should hope they aren't those of her character.


Here was the ten-minute intermission, which would normally be a footnote except that the aforementioned blonde jumped gracefully over the front row of seats and then turned to extend a helping hand to her companion, at which point i recognized her as my mentor group leader Leslie. That we'd spent the last 75 minutes approximately three inches apart whilst entirely oblivious is a point i find quite ironic.


Half an Hour
The only courage that matters is the kind that gets you from one moment to the next. -Mignon McLaughlin
We'd been warned ahead of time that after the intermission the tone of the festival would become a bit darker, and so it did. Within ten seconds of the opening lights Richard Garson had ruthlessly tossed his wife across the room in a fit of rage. The wife, taking none too kindly to the episode (which, we must assume, is not the first), removes her precious belongings and takes flight for an ex-lover (in whose hands her heart still lies, naturally). The unfortunate turn of events that follows must be seen to be believed, and ultimately things are returned to their normal state. Note, however, that said normal state was never very good. Consequently with the abusive husband lacking justice and an innocent man struck down by a cruel turn of fate, i wonder if The Academy would be able to find more purpose in this play than i did. The salvation of the play is its superb degree of acting, particularly the accents. I admit i am a sucker for the English tongue.

Intermission
Although the theatre is not life, it is composed of fragments or imitations of life, and people on both sides of the footlights have to unite to make the fragments whole and the imitations genuine. -Brooks Atkinson
The premise is simple: two couples sit adjacent to one another in a theatre and are left to their own devices when the lights come up to give them a chance to stretch their limbs or tongues, whichever they prefer. The majority of the play finds them choosing to stretch the latter, them being the elder Smiths and the young lovers (ironically, Jack and Jill). To try to explain why this play was incredible would be like trying to imitate Will Farrell, except the play is actually funny. Just keep an eye on the family pet.


As i hinted above, i'll be attending Saturday afternoon's performance (hopefully with some friends this time, though i totally don't mean to discredit Leslie). I'll be taking notes this time on lines and particular episodes from "The Way of All Fish," the play i decided to review extensively for World Drama. Sorry to leave you on the edge of your seat if you're among the many that won't be able to ever attend the festival, but it's a crime i must commit if i ever want to be famous ;)