Ring brings realism to the Moon

While most Tufts students indulged in a day off from classes this Tuesday, the cast and crew of Ring Round the Moon logged in a 12 hour work day, working through two runs of the show, and putting on the last finishing touches. All this meticulous preparation will culminate this Thursday night when the major fall production of student theater group Pen Paint and Pretzels takes the stage at the Balch Arena Theater.

The romantic comedy, by Jean Anouilh, takes place in a garden outside of a classy 1920's party, engaging the audience in a whirl-wind of racy 'class A gossip' and small scale scandals. But it's the details that make this show swing, compliments of period costumes, classy dance movies and superb acting. The small cast of 11 characters, described by lead Megan Hammer as "a very varied, equal cast," carries the storyline through from bouts of humor to its more telling moments.

Director Taylor Shann stated that Ring Round the Moon is a play that "people can enjoy for what it is," but can also be analyzed at a deeper level should they take the time to look a little deeper, thus finding the intricacies of each character. "Each actor is a character actor," Shann foretells as they each bring an integral aspect of the play to life.

The cast itself is unique. The director wanted "not to cast anyone in something they've done before," bringing 6 seasoned 3P's actors and 5 newcomers to the scene. Taylor urges the audience "to expect the unexpected."

The 11 actors have spent multitudes of hours rehearsing -- a process that began the very first week of classes. In addition, all actors have undergone individual 1 on 1 sessions with the director to more concretely comprehend their character, in order to delve into the innate reality of their specific characters.

Shann aimed for realism, wanting to highlight not only the very obvious humor of the play, but also the more subtle serious issues dealing with family, relationships, and money. "I want it to be funny, but also make you think. I want to fit art and entertainment in a box," he said.

The characters all share a quality of exaggerated realism. While at first, the characters seem untouchable and inhuman; Taylor asserts that "everyone, even exaggerated characters are a reflection of someone you know in real life" -- a quality he tried to portray as accurately as possible.

Lead Josh Bauml, who acts the parts of both Hugo and Frederic, twin brothers in the play, added "the characters are very large, but Taylor [director] aimed to find the reality within all of them." It is this clash of characters that carve out the backbone of the play.

Additionally, the theater-in-the-round space of the Balch Arena Theater adds an air of simple truth to the show. For instance, actor's backs will always be turned to some people in the audience. Moreover, the actors don't have to over dramatize their actions, given that there are audience members as close as.

However, the Balch does present certain conflicts for the set crew: the huge set for Dr. Faustus left a gap in the seating which had to be filled for the showing of Ring. Yet Shann stated that such problems ultimately "force everyone to be more creative" resulting in a better show.

In retrospect, this heartfelt play aims to "deal with sadness and through that get to happiness," says Shann. Ring Round the Moon -- a romantic comedy by nature but with far deeper roots residing below the surface has something in it for everyone including characters that may seem to be pulled directly from your life. As Bauml puts it "get ready to come in and have a good time."