In the hours before the performance, half-awake pairs of student playwrights and student directors could be seen rehearsing in the Hopkins Center with their actors.Katie Sinclair '14 said she was excited to be a part of WiRED for the first time, despite the unconventional schedule. Sinclair and her partner Adam Mehring '14 began writing at 8 p.m. in Novack.
"It was okay, but drunk people kept walking by in Novack," she said. "We were there until 5 a.m. We then went to the Bentley Theater from 8 a.m. until our hour break, and then we will return for rehearsals."
Each term, the coordinators of WiRED come up with a theme that the writers must find a way to incorporate into their plays. This term, each play was required to involve one person with an obsession and one person with a phobia. Despite the challenge, Sinclair said she was glad to be a part of such a unique creation.
"Everyone's plots are crazy," Sinclair said. "One situation, for example, involves a med student who becomes a drug dealer yeah, they are all bizarre. They basically say, Write a play in 10 hours and go.' It goes without saying we pulled storylines out of everywhere, but in the end it is happy ever after."
Olivia Baptista '12, who has been production manager for WiRED since last fall, explained that she keeps returning to the event because she loves "getting to decide what triggers the storyline and helping expand it."
"There are so many '14s who jumped in this term, and it was cool that I got a chance to be a part of choosing the themes," she said. "A past term we did musicals, which was fun."
Baptista explained that another draw of WiRED is getting to see writers and actors return. Sharang Biswas '12 has acted in nearly every WiRED since his freshman Fall.
"WiRED is a good way of getting a big dose of theater in every term," he said. "You get to know people, as it is definitely a bonding experience. We pick anyone who is enthusiastic, as WiRED looks for willingness to act, rather than how well you can act."
In the final production, held Saturday at 8 p.m., playwrights, directors, actors and actresses gathered together to present three exceptionally distinctive pieces. "Dirt Boy," written and directed by David Kinney '11 and Camilla Rothenberg '13 was a quirky coming-of-age tale the story of a young boy overcoming pressure from his dirt-phobic mother and alcoholic coach to make a home run in a crucial game. The progression of events was straightforward, but artistic and directorial choices gave the play an unexpected edge. The coach's subtle progression of secondary action was an engaging gag for the audience moving from shot glasses to a hidden flask to an entire handle of whiskey, from which he chugged shamelessly in the concluding scene. In addition to thoughtful direction, the acting was superb, channeling immense energy less likely to be found in a more rehearsed and comfortable atmosphere.
The second play, "Nymphosomnia," written and directed by Sinclair and Mehring, told a tale of romantic obsession, tinged darkly with the same crazed insomnia examined by films like "Fight Club" and "The Machinist." The main character spent his nights cutting out paper hearts and composing poetry for a woman he had only encountered once. The object of his affection Sheila, the ex-girlfriend of his partying roommate suddenly reappears, initiating a series of increasingly uncomfortable situations. The piece played out as a comedy of errors, concluding with a scene of absolute chaos that left the audience both amused and appalled.
"Short Comings," written and directed by Tomo Berry '12 and Erin Klein '13 was the final performance of the night. The play introduced a cast of characters afflicted with a variety of neuroses, including a girl afraid of the vertically challenged and a young man with a fear of third syllables. The latter two are paired together as Alcoholics Anonymous partners and forced to overcome their shortcomings in order to discover themselves and find true love.
