Once again, my reporting exploits take me to Nourse Little Theater,* as another theatrical event plays out on the Little Stage.
This time, the production was Seascape, a play written by Edward Albee (he did Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, if I'm not much mistaken). Annelise Lawson, a senior theater major, played the role of Nancy in Seascape for her senior comps, and it was directed by Alex Higgin-Houser, a junior.
The set was bright and dreamlike- the stage was converted into a beach with small, sandy dunes, which lay in front of a painted backdrop depicting a light blue sky filled with tiny white clouds. The story starts with Nancy and her husband Charlie (played by Jared Evans '10) relaxing on the aforementioned beach, during a vacation. The relaxation quickly gives way to a tension-filled discussion when Nancy confronts Charlie with the fact that they are both growing older and yet they are sitting on a beach letting the rest of their lives slip away. Charlie, who had previously been enjoying his rest on the beach, replies that he is perfectly content to keep sitting, which opens the way for much philosophical debate and marital argument. Both Nancy and Charlie are very smart, but they don't seem to be able to communicate very well- they go back and forth for about an hour alternately discussing their philosophies about life in general and skirting the brink of a big fight. It's fairly plain to see that they have a lot in common and actually could make a good couple if they communicated better, but it's harder for them to figure that out themselves.
Seascape follows the plot of an absurdist comedy-drama where the characters talk but nothing ever really happens.
That is, until the giant lizards show up.
Suddenly, in the midst of their abstract philosophical discussion, Nancy and Charlie have to deal with the very concrete fact that they are apparently under attack from two sea-lizards their own size. They try to fend them off with a tiny stick, and, failing that, roll over on their backs and play dead.
When it turns out, after intermission, that the lizards are actually sapient, they speak English, their names are Sarah (Kristen Johnson '10) and Leslie (Teddy Wolff '10), and they are a married couple remarkably similar to Nancy and Charlie, the two couples begin another conversation, this time about the differences between their two species. This conversation is also full of mistrust and miscommunication, except it is far more ridiculous and hilarious than the conversation in Act I- apparently the lizards do not understand many human concepts (such as handshakes, machines, evolution, emotion, or the difference between fingers and toes), and it's fun to watch Nancy and Charlie argue with each other over how best to explain these things to lizards. Eventually the discussion takes a turn for the worse and a fight breaks out, but the two groups eventually decide that they need to at least try to understand each other in order to have a glimpse of what lies beyond their mundane lives.
In addition to having a stunning set, Seascape was very well-acted- the subjects that the characters talk about are all over the board and their conversation jumps around a lot, but the actors managed to make the dialogue seem natural. Also, the humans and lizards did a great job of portraying the curiosity and awkwardness that (apparently) comes with discovering that one is not the only sentient species on one's planet.
All in all, Seascape managed to be artistic, offbeat and deep at the same time, which is a hard combination to achieve. Great job to everyone involved!
*Note: my preference for stories involving Nourse Little Theater exists solely because I am a great lover of theater... and absolutely NOT because I live in Nourse and it's really easy to just go downstairs whenever something's going on.
