Zoo Play Spotlights First-time Actors

Author: Suzanne Mozes

The broad gyre of emotions stirred in "The Philadelphia Burn," the seventh annual first-year show, but finally surrendered to the prevailing casual atmosphere of the Hepburn Zoo on Oct. 18. Intense emotional extremes lobbed to and fro, as the six plays created a balance with the laid-back atmosphere of the College's black-box theater, leaving the audience relaxed and thoughtful upon their exit.
The series of plays commenced with David Ives' "The Philadelphia," a production entrapping each of its characters into a separate reality branded by the name of an American city. Al (Alex Horn '05), in a "Los Angeles," tries to help his friend, Mark (Elliot Turley '06), cope with being stuck in a "Philadelphia" where he can't get anything he wants.
Despite his somewhat overactive hand gestures, Horn brought a distinctive flair of confidence to his presumptuous character, clad in a blue three-piece suit. Both Turley and Elisabeth Fulling '06 (Waitress) built momentum with their cast and the audience as the play progressed.
Nolan Weltchek '05 and Charzetta Nixon '06 portrayed the incompatible sleeping schedules of a nameless couple in "Breakfast at the Track" by Lanford Wilson. While the husband (Weltchek) tries to rouse his wife (Nixon) with "darlings," the wife wards him off with threats of "I will kill." While sensitively avoiding the true gravity of the couple's problem, Weltchek and Nixon plowed through the intimate situation by nailing their humorous lines and playing up to the standards set by the audience's laughter.
"Bread," by Margaret Hunt, heaved the audience into an emotion overload as Nellie (Susanna Preziosi '05) and Abby (Retta Leaphart '06) try to help Joan (Molly Russell '05), Nellie's sister and Abby's mother, with a debilitating mental illness. This poignant play explores the thorny complications and agonizing pain emerging from "family matters."
Preziosi, Leaphart and Russell successfully conveyed the complex levels of emotion that this play demanded, sucking the audience into its tribulations.
"Botticelli" by Terrance McNally portrayed two soldiers, Wayne (Andrew Schwerfeger '05) and Stu (Max Theis '05) waiting to kill a hidden Viet Cong soldier.
The play held special significance in today's world as the United States hangs precariously on the cusp of war. The two boys smoked marijuana and played guessing games, which contrasted sharply with the machine guns in their hands. Themes of games, breaking the rules and death probed the audience for reactions of fear interspersed with nervous laughter.
While the heaviness of "Botticelli" lingered for the remainder of the play, "The Battle of Bull Run Always Makes Me Cry," Carole Real's one-act, lightened the mood drastically.
Linda (Rebecca Scholtz '06), a flighty girl, lapses between a date with Patrick (Calvin Garner '06) and discussing Patrick with her friends, Linda (Meghan Nesmith '06) and Amy (Nell Wright '05), over coffee.
The girls united as a team of quintessential female stereotypes that were neither overstated nor belittled. The audience swooned to this harmonious trio — Donna as Gladys Knight, and her friends as The Pips, backing her up in perfect vocal and gesticulating accord.
"Burn" by Dana Leslie Goldstein concluded "The Philadelphia Burn," with Katie (Lily Balsen '06) and Richard (Andrew Zox '05) experiencing trouble with their marriage after their daughter is severely burned.
Delving into the realm of claiming versus placing responsibility for disastrous accidents, Balsen and Zox lurched into resolving their characters' relationship in the midst of their child's misfortune. Yet, after the tumultuous scene, "Burn" ended with hope and a positive outlook sought out by Balsen and Zox with consideration and contemplation.
With the standard criticism of lack of raw talent (among the actors) and of inability (of the actors) to find more comfort onstage and among each other, the level of acting undoubtedly impressed the audience for being a first-year production.
It remains to be determined who the lucky party is in "The Philadelphia Burn:" — director Annmarie Benedict, visiting lecturer in theater, for her vast talent in working with this cast of inexperienced students, or the first-years and sophomores, for the fashion in which they guided their teacher, director and professional actress. At any rate, both seemed pleased with the other's results judging by their expressions at the end of the play.