Article By: Alexander Sessa
Consort and Distort: A night of Ten Minute plays was presented this past Friday and Saturday in the Donahue café. Not only did the show attract a large turnout, the audience sat intently through each short play, laughing and having an excellent time. The first of seven plays, John Clancy’s Another Beautiful Story, was a satire that poked fun at plays in general. It opened with a narrator who discussed what it means to be part of a play – then dies. His body is then accompanied by three meaningless characters: one of whom wants to tell a story, one of whom does not want to tell the story, and one who has no purpose at all. The three remaining characters argue about whether or not it would be appropriate to continue the play until one of them establishes that the narrator died from “lack of belief” on the part of the audience. 
The second play, Paul Dooley and Winnie Hlolzman’s Post- Its (Notes on a Marriage), stressed the importance of taking the time to be with each other. A man and a woman (both without names) sit apart from each other, reading post-it notes they have left for one another. Through this process, their relationship grows from their first night together all throughout their married life. The audience learns they have a child together named Eugenia, who grows up to have a daughter named Careen. This couple ages together and shifts from being a vibrant young pair to an old couple. Through the years, they always seem to need milk, as their notes say, “we need milk.” They grow somewhat distant until the woman eventually dies. The man leaves himself one final note saying he found every post-it note he wrote to his wife, showing she loved him so much, she kept each one.
While this male and female duo theme was common throughout the show, the relationship among these roles altered quite significantly. Forward Motion by John Elliot consisted of a young man and a young woman, both college students, trying to spell challenging words. This mini spelling bee develops into a conversation in which they discuss the fact that the young man is gay and unable to tell his parents.
Fairy Tale, an outrageous comedy written by Tracey Wilson, depicted a married couple obsessed with shopping at Wal-Mart. They shop constantly, always bringing their children with them, never missing an opportunity to shop at the retail giant. When they begin to hear the items talking to them, however, things go awry and they are banned. Other people seem to face similar circumstances, which causes Wal-Mart to suffer. The play focused on the evils of Wal-Mart even, at one point, incorporating Satan himself. Ultimately, when the couple is forced to choose between the store and their children, Wal-Mart wins the battle.
After a brief intermission, Playwright 101: The Rooftop Lesson by Rich Orloff depicted two actors and a narrator and opened with the line “I’m gonna jump!” The narrator of this story has the power to stop, rewind, and ultimately dictate the outcome of these characters, simply by stating their actions are not adequate for a proper play. They reenact several of the same actions numerous times, but with different results. In one instance, the person attempting suicide is stopped by the actor simply saying, “Don’t do it.” The first actor responds by saying “Okay.” Dissatisfied, the narrator forces the actors to develop their actions by rewinding and pausing them. Frustrated, the two eventually turn on him, steal his mystical remote control, and freeze him. The person who once intended to commit suicide pulls out a gun and kills him.
Unlike most of the plays, Jerome Hairston’s Three Dimensions was not a comedy. This play involved two men caring for a sleeping woman. While the specific problem is left completely ambiguous, it proved to be an emotional piece. The two men argue over the care of this girl, not knowing how she should be treated or with what. Finally, the play drifted into the mind of the sleeping girl, offering her side of the story. She says she has been in the hospital and was subjected to tests until finally a CAT scan of her brain offered the real problem. 
Finally, Bar Mitzvah Boy by Samara Siskind depicted a boy named Samuel becoming a man in the Jewish faith. Samuel danced with the girl he adores, Stacy, who constantly claims he is “touching her butt.” Samuel denies this obscene action. Through this coming-of-age story, Samuel proclaims his true feelings for Stacy.
At the end of the play, the actors bowed with their respective stage partners while the audience gave a standing ovation. “I found the plays to be very entertaining and humorous,” said Alli Kratik, class of 2013. Dayna-Leigh Calma-Phillips, also class of 2013, added, “It was really witty!” The ten minute plays have proven to be successful means of entertainment.
