Author: Suzanne Moses
Senior Zoe Anastassiou dared her audience to "veer from what's neutral" in "Tell me Something Pretty," a production of six provocative one-act plays, directed by Claire Wyckoff '03 and Kayte Spector '04. Anasttassiou chose scenes, along with the directors and faculty advisers, for this 700-level project centering on themes of gender, cross-gendering and sexuality.
The audience felt challenged to examine its comfort level with the play's material as it walked through the door. In an attempt to reflect the relaxed attitude of today's sexual culture, actresses, dressed in pink, and actors, clad in blue, shifted in sensual poses to a thumping techno beat as the play began.
In "Hurly Burly" by playwright David Rabe, Eddie (Annastassiou) and Phil (Dan Pruksarnukul '04) complained about Phil's wife while indulging themselves in designer drugs. "Women of Manhattan" by playwright John Patrick Shanley overcompensated for the overwhelming masculinity of the latter with Rhonda (Annastassiou) and Billie (Becky Martin '04), entertaining themselves by dressing lavishly.
However, a night that began with the statement "F--k the men" ended with the question "Where's the men?" These ladies explored their femininity while discussing their somewhat shallow disappointments in life. "Never Land" began with Micheal, initially acted by Spector, playfully seducing Elizabeth, initially played by Annastassiou, during a French lesson. However, the scene concluded with Micheal, now performed by Annastassiou, ordering Elizabeth, acted by Spector, to give him fellatio.
Mother (John Stokvis '05) and Grandma (Pruksarnukul) imparted their wisdom to Lil'bit (Anastassiou) regarding men in "How I Learned to Drive" by Paula Vogel, but disagreed on the degree of truth they chose to relay to this young girl. Maureen (Martin) abandons Mag (Anastassiou), an elderly lady, for a love interest in "The Beauty Queen of Leenane" by Martin McDonagh. The pathos the audience felt swang from Maureen to Mag as it became apparent that Maureen abuses this meddlesome, aged woman.
The production concluded with Starbuck (Stokvis), a loner in pursuit of his dreams, giving hope to Lizzie (Anastassiou), a plain girl, in "The Rainmaker" by Richard Nash.
After two weeks of rehearsal, faculty advisers pushed the group to choose a new group of scenes that were more supportive of Anastassiou's senior work. As a result, the four weeks of rehearsal that remained pushed the troupe to work even harder. Regardless of this limited time period, the actors pulled these scenes together to create "meaningful theater."
As the players assumed roles of the opposite sex, they strove to find their real character instead of sinking into the characteristic gestures of that gender. Moreover, as Anastassiou explained, they understood that they would not try to convince the audience that they had evolved into the opposite sex; the players wanted to see them acting for that role.
I realized that, particularly in the most striking scene of "Never Land," the actors playing opposite sexes were performing their perception of the opposite sex. This added yet another question, "How do we perceive ourselves and how do we perceive the opposite sex?", to the accumulating queries that emerged from the play.
Anastassiou undoubtedly pushed the limits with "Tell Me Something Pretty." Her versatility as an actress, performing in every scene, articulated the true breadth of her talent.
Sex at the Zoo "Tell Me Something Pretty" Plays with Sexual Themes
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