High school theater productions are generally a combination of lots of enthusiasm, good intentions and little training. Luckily, theatre usually evolves into something more professional and refined once it reaches the university level. Gone are the days of unstable sets, bad lighting, homemade costumes, melodramatic acting and audiences full of parents who applaud every time their child makes an appearance.
Tufts 3Ps' annual freshman production helps new students make the transition from high school to university level shows, as well as introduce them to the theatre community.
The students in this year's production, "Arsenic and Old Lace," seem to have adjusted quite nicely to their new college environment and forgotten whatever post-orientation awkwardness they initially may have felt: "Arsenic" is engaging and hilarious. The cast shows a lot of talent and it's obvious that the actors are having fun. Their energy is contagious and adds to the physical humor throughout this well-known, classic play.
"Despite it being a dark comedy, there's a lot of light fun about the show, a lot of silliness," director and senior Luke Yu said. "It's a good first-year experience, and I wanted the people involved to have a lot of fun." The cast agrees that, in addition to having a good time, they learned a lot from their involvement in "Arsenic."
"It's practically been an acting class in and of itself," Jason Edes said. "Luke has really been teaching us the craft of acting, not just how to get through the show."
Furthermore, students say that the differences between theater in high school and at college are noticeable.
"The biggest difference is that it's completely driven by students," says Jessica Bidgood, "In high school we always had adults telling us what to do and how they wanted it to be, but here it's more of a group effort. Students have to work together to make things happen."
"Arsenic" wasn't all fun and games. Time management proved to be much more challenging than in high school. Students were responsible for balancing hours of rehearsal with their classes, other extra-curricular activities, and social life.
"With rehearsal it was really hard to stay on top of classes and all my work," said Bidgood, "I learned how to stay awake on a lot of caffeine."
After all of the late nights spent together at rehearsal, there's a feeling of camaraderie among the cast and crew of "Arsenic" that seeps into the show itself. The relationships between the characters are utterly convincing, and the cast seems very comfortable on stage.
"Arsenic and Old Lace" is widely performed in high school, and those who haven't seen it on stage have probably seen the movie. Yu says this production is different in that it emphasizes the play's underlying themes.
"I've done a lot of work with the cast about what the show means," he said. "Basically it's about community and our reaction to people who don't fit in with our conception of social rules, which is something you encounter when you come to college."
Though the theme of community and a pressure to fit in may be present at college, it comes as a relief that the characters in "Arsenic" aren't present themselves, considering most of them are murderers.
"Arsenic" gives us a glimpse into the lives of the Brewster family. Mortimer (played by Jason Edes) has returned home to visit his aunts, Abby (Tasha Milkman) and Martha (Jessica Bidgood). When he discovers a dead body in the window seat, drama ensues. His aunts confess to killing 12 "lonely old men" with arsenic mixed in wine.
Mortimer struggles to protect his aunts from the police while juggling his engagement to Elaine (Samantha Tempchin) and the escapades of this brother Teddy (Michael Levine), who believes that he's President Theodore Roosevelt. The return of Mortimer's fugitive brother, Jonathan (Ethan Hochheiser), further upsets matters, which makes for a plot guaranteed to put even the craziest family in perspective.
