A gay mob boss shrieked, a microwaved guinea pig sizzled and an extraterrestrial babbled in an otherworldy tongue at the Bentley Theater on Saturday.
This comic theater showcase featured three hilarious short plays and marked the fifth anniversary of WiRED, a program in which students write, plan, prepare and perform plays within a 24-hour time limit. To celebrate the event's anniversary and to introduce a bit of creative mayhem , the plot of each play was required to take place over a five-year period.
"Four-Hundred and Ninety-One Classic Microwave Recipes: A Microwave Farce" presented the simultaneous stories of a boy in 2007 who euthanizes his terminally -ill guinea pig in a microwave and a couple in 2002 who learns that microwaving "smoked Guinean ham" will allow them to have a family. "Recipes" was written by Latif Nasser '08 and directed by Olivia Gilliatt '08.
While admittedly creative, the plot of the play proved unworkably quirky. The exposition was sloppy and it often left the audience unsure of what was happening. A bit of witty writing spiced up the beginning of the play, but the comic energy faded as it progressed.
Kevin Jackson '10 held the show together as the boy who kills his guinea pig. He kicked off the first scene with confidence and hilarity, delivering a clever soliloquy on microwaves. Jackson's performance was solid throughout, but it couldn't maintain the play's momentum, which dwindled toward the end.
"What Would Vlorigula Do" supplied a witty and over-the-top new take on the classic doomsday scenario. Faced with alien annihilation in five years time, the characters decided to recklessly pursue their wildest dreams before the end.
The first scene featured a long exchange between Ray Padgett '09 and Micaela Klein '10, two earthlings debating the pros and cons of the approaching "End." This brilliantly foreshadowed dialogue teased the audience by revealing, little by little, that the "End" was really an alien invasion. By the time of that critical exposition, the audience had been masterfully drawn in by the talent of co-writers and directors Casey Ley '07 and Nicola Korzenko '07.
This scene also introduced the major downfall of the play: handheld scripts. Nearly every performer in "Vlorigula" used one, and while understandable given the hastily assembled nature of WiRED productions, the scripts often disrupted the rhythm of dialogue during critical scenes.
Later on, Jay Ben Markson '10 dominated the stage as Mark, a young man whose mother died from over-ingestion of water during a pre-apocalyptic drinking contest. Markson later fell in love with one of the invading aliens. Faced with myriad crazy situations, Markson drew constant laughs with his hilariously dry presentation and body language.
"Gays of Our Lives" told the tale of Steve (Evan Michals '07) and his five-year quest to avenge the death of his mother, who was apparently killed by a lapdog. Steve joins the gang of a homosexual mob boss named The Gon ("gay Don") in order to capture all the world's lapdogs for extermination. The play was co-written and directed by Deb Wassel '07 and Nik Nartowicz '07.
The plot was clever, but tried too hard to be ridiculous. The writing focused too much on the dog roundup and similar antics instead of playing to its real strength: The Gon and his gang.
Brought to life by Dylan Hume '09, the gay godfather's humor was evocative of a Jack Black performance. His cronies were no less amusing in their tight pink shirts and flared pants. One truly got the sense that The Gon and his men were a force to be reckoned with in the gay mafia world. Hume's performance was probably the most memorable (if occasionally over-flamboyant) of all three productions.
Overall, this term's WiRED was a successful jaunt through the minds of some very creative writers and directors. Off-the-wall humor and outrageous plotlines were the rule of the day. Aside from a few flaws (most of which can be blamed on the 24-hour production cycle), the evening was energetic, witty and fun.
