Life > February 14, 2008

By Julia Dimaio | Staff writer

The Anthony Aston Players presented Neil LaBute’s Bash Feb. 8 - Feb. 10 in Scales Fine Arts Center.

Bash is a unique, dark work that consists of only four actors in three separate scenes. In each scene a shocking, morbid truth is revealed by the speaker.

The director, senior Rebecca Cannon, first saw Bash while studying abroad in London and knew right away that she wanted to direct it upon her return to the university.

“Ordinary people are not always what they seem,” Cannon said. She also said that LaBute was “defellowshipped” from the Mormon community for writing this sinister trio of acts.

It only takes viewing the first act to see why the content might be objectionable to the church.

Junior Dan Applegate opened the first scene with “I’ll tell it once …” From these first words the audience was immediately pulled in, anxiously anticipating the secret that was sure to follow.

Applegate convincingly played a Mormon businessman in his 30s who has recently lost an infant.

He reveals that he aided in the death of his own child in hopes of avoiding the lay off at work that he thinks is imminent.

Applegate delivered his heart wrenching 50 minute monologue with surprising expertise.

Adele Jones, a Winston-Salem resident and theatre fan, said, “I almost forgot he is just a 20-year-old kid. He had me believing he had a couple kids at home.” When Applegate’s scene ended, the three paintings projected on the back wall of the stage were replaced with three new paintings and junior Gaby Ortiz appeared to tell her story.

Ortiz played a teenager who fell in love and slept with her teacher when she was only 13.

The young girl kept the child and raised it, only to tragically murder him in the bathtub.

Ortiz played her part with the bubbling enthusiasm one would expect a young girl when talking about her first love.

This enthusiasm makes it all the more eerie and unsettling when the audience learns of the premeditated murder of her son.

The pictures on the wall changed again and senior Stowe Nelson and sophomore Liz Shumate emerged from the audience.

They played a young Mormon couple at Boston College who have been together for a number of years.

They each chronicle a night at a party as if the other was not there.

In fact, Nelson and Shumate did an excellent job of never looking at each other while on stage.

Shumate shone in her first university performance as the darling, innocent Sue who only sees the good in fiancé, John.

John is not as wonderful as he seems. He becomes violently enraged by the happiness of a gay couple when out with friends.

Nelson delivers a disturbing scene when they beat the man to death, consecrate him with holy oil and steal his ring.

John later gives that same ring to a blissfully happy Sue. The audience saw this last scene as the finale, which made clapping awkward and forced at first.

It was as if the audience hated the play enough to leave in silence but upon further reflection realized the talents and skills of the actors.