As Tufts students, we are taught by a highly decorated faculty. Our professors are greatly respected not only for their multiple degrees, but also for their various academic pursuits and perspectives.
Though they are deserving of our respect, we may not necessarily agree with their outlooks and interpretations. "Third" explores the conflict between a famed professor and her equally intelligent student.
Directed by Richard Seer, "Third" is a modern play written by Wendy Wasserstein that is now being performed by the Hunting Theatre Company in the Boston University Theatre.
The setting is a small New England college during the 2002-2003 academic year. English professor Laurie Jameson (played by Maureen Anderman) contentedly teaches "King Lear" until student Woodson Bull III (Graham Hamilton) challenges her interpretation of the play.
Jameson immediately pins him as a narrow-minded white male. She believes that Bull, whose nickname is "Third," is incapable is of advanced intellectual thought. When Third turns in a brilliant term paper, Jameson accuses him of plagiarism, and the play's central conflict gets rolling.
Anderman clearly leads the other actors in this production. Her interpretation of a middle-aged, accomplished woman dealing with a dying father, the war in Iraq, her college daughter and an ailing friend is convincing and real.
She portrays the transition of Jameson from a professor who tells her students to "challenge the norms" in her "hegemonic free zone" of a classroom into a genuinely open-minded woman. Jameson eventually realizes that she is a radical feminist whose beliefs are still stuck in the '70s.
As she states poignantly, "I'm Laurie Jameson, and I still know what I know."
In a cast of superb actors, Robin Pearson Rose also stands out for her supporting role as Nancy Gordon, Jameson's ailing friend.
Gordon is a professor of English at the same college, but suffers from breast cancer and undying cynicism. Rose's purposely flat delivery enhances Gordon's pessimism. Gordon acts as an impartial character between the two protagonists, and she is a constructive foil for Anderman's character. She brings out the best and the worst in Jameson, allowing the audience to see Jameson as a whole.
Gordon is also quite funny, and her witty remarks have the audience laughing almost every time she opens her mouth.
"Third" distinguishes itself from other plays not only through believable performances, clever dialogue and realistic conflicts, but also for the high production value. Rarely does one see better scene changes.
Automated, sliding sets allow the show to fluidly change scenery. The sets seem to evolve into one another without the jarring blackouts and the sound of sliding furniture.
If there is any space for improvement, it is in the show's portrayal of the two college students: Emily, Jameson's daughter and a freshman at Swarthmore, and Third, the white male troublemaker.
The duo has little in common with Tufts students, or even with most human beings. They seem cardboard and shallow, especially when compared to the rest of the cast.
Emily and Third's inaccessibility, however, did not detract greatly from the overall production.
Wasserstein has earned a Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award, an Emmy nomination and various other honors for her plays, which often feature a highly educated woman as a central figure.
More women are becoming educated and finding themselves in a predicament. They must choose between being the modern independent thinker and somehow fitting themselves in the domestic household, a dilemma that Wasserstein artfully tackles. Despite its flaws, "Third" is a great piece of Boston theater, and a safe bet for any college student.
ThirdWritten by Wendy WassersteinDirected by Richard SeerAt the Boston University Theatre through Feb. 3Tickets $15 to $75
