Life > April 3, 2008

By Elizabeth Martin | Staff writer

The Ring Theatre had a packed house on March 24 and 25 for the most recent set of Studio Series plays. The program featured the hard work of two theater majors: junior Lauren Gaston and senior Micah Andrews.

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The evening began with a delightfully witty depiction of the beloved Little Red Riding Hood, a comedy with a unique twist showing how things are not necessarily always how they appear.

As the show began, the lights came up to reveal the mother (played excellently by junior Stephany Rayburn) dramatically bent over with her head stuck in the oven.

A slightly eccentric nature was revealed immediately as she straightened to reveal a stubborn waft of hair that never wavered from its position 90 degrees out from her forehead for the entire show, only increasing laughter as it accented every indignant toss of her head and never failed to respond wildly to her sighs of frustration.

The peculiarity of the mother only became more apparent as the show progressed.

Instructions given to her daughter Red (freshman Hannah Newman) concerning the delivery of goodies to grandmother vacillated in a bipolar manner between the sweet “take her this basket” and the menacing “then choke and smash her.”

The mother also exhibited a bit of amnesia, as she told Red to leave and, then scolded her for leaving. As a puzzled Red re-took her seat, she got yelled at for not going and as she then got up to leave again, was scolded for abandoning her mother – a comic representation of the common experience with people who are impossible to please. Red finally left and immediately came across the wolf (graduate student Adam Humenansky), a dashing but sleezy character who seduced Red into letting him scratch her mosquito bite and telling him all the information concerning her grandmother’s location.

The next scene returned to the home, where the audience was introduced to Red’s father (senior Eric Pearce), a clumsy hunter with the uncanny ability to turn every mistake he makes into a lesson concerning his latest life epiphany. When his wife called his attention to both the arm he had failed to put through his sleeve and his incomplete buttoning job, he took the opportunity for a passionate discourse on the problem of those who “focus on the unsleeved arm and the unbuttoned button.” The perfect illustration for family values was found when he placed his fork behind his ear.

The incredulous response of his wife resulted in a speech highlighting the merits of a father who would “put a fork behind his ear for his family.”

The grandmother (alumna Bethany Novak) was the epitome of the feeble, cranky and amnesic grandmother made each next breath come as a surprise with her violent coughing gestures.

The wolf “eats” both the grandmother (at her insistence) and Red, but that was no problem as the mother arrived and simply pulled them back out of his stomach as he slept.

The father finally got up enough courage to shoot the wolf, despite Red’s pleas. However, she comes across the wolf again, but much to her disappointment he informs her that he is unable to eat her because he is dead. The act ends with a simple “oh” by Red, who then continues on her merry way.

The second show took a more serious turn, featuring An Evening with Dead Essex by Adrienne Kennedy.

A group of students (senior director Micah Andrews, senior projectionist Dan Li, senior actress Chloe Mexile, senior actor Troy Pellom and sophomore assistant director Aleshia Price) prepared for the dramatic presentation by considering the shooting in 1972 that killed Mark Essex.

Essex was supposedly “searching for peace,” and his several murderous undertakings against white people were portrayed as mere desperation for the freedom America had promised.

Various quotes from news clippings were shared, along with two dramatic monologues and some songs, presenting overall the less-familiar case that worked to redeem Essex. Resentment toward America was evident in the writing of this play, but this perhaps was justified by the resentment and racism that lead to this horrific event.

A truth not often considered was laid forth by the director who commented on the African Americans (including Essex) who had to “fight in Vietnam for a country who hated them more than the enemy did.”

The police and Essex exchanged several rounds on that fatal day, and finally a Marine Corps helicopter was used to aid in the attack. Essex was found with evidence that over 200 bullets hit his body. This play centered around a quote by Essex: “If the quest for freedom is death, then by death I shall escape to freedom.”

This play was an effective representation of views often overlooked by those who forget that America did not always have the freedom it claimed.