Arts

“Cover” and “The Guest of Honor”: Drama Labs

It is common to hear of corrupt CEO’s getting caught in a web of lies. However, when their lies revolve around their marriage lives, they cause all the more intrigue. Last Friday night’s drama lab, “Cover” by Jeffery Sweet, portrayed such a complex situation. The second performance, “The Guest of Honor,” injected a bit of humor into the night. A knock at the door from Martin (Patrick Woolsey ’09) interrupted business-suit wearing Frank (Matt Emery ’08) during his workday. Martin wanted Frank to lie for him so that he could hide an affair from his wife, Diane (Louisa Chafee ’09). Though Frank adamantly refused to lie for his friend, he eventually folded when Diane entered the scene. At the same time, however, Diane eluded that she and Frank were having an affair, completing a triangle of deception and mistrust. Woolsey said, “The moral in two words is: nobody’s perfect.” Aside from some inconsistency with acting, the cast seemed to portray the message clearly. Giggles from the audience at humorous moments and a feverous applause at the end were a congratulations to a successful performance for the cast as well as director Lucy Arnold ’10, stage manager Katy Svec ’10 and producer Molly Shoemaker ’08. The second performance of the night, “The Guest of Honor” by Richard Strand, took a different turn from the more serious themes of “Cover.” The show began with Jason (Julian Azaret ’08) sprawled on a chair covered in newspapers. His wife Lynn (Tavie Abell ’10) repeatedly reassured anxious and over strung Karen (Daniella Pimentel ’11) not to say anything embarrassing about their “perfectly normal” guest. When the audience finally met the guest, David (Tudor Radoaca ’08), Karen completely broke down under social stress while the other characters, for no apparent reason, repeatedly criticized her. Finally, she became so befuddled that she got up, yelled a random phrase, and stormed out of the room. The director, Kelsey Flynn ’10, who worked with producer, Evan Delgaudio ’08, said that there were not a lot of stage instructions written into the skit. The script allowed her some freedom in stage direction as well. This freedom turned out to be a great strength in the performance. The audience fell to pieces laughing at Pimentel’s exaggerated gestures. The uptightness of her character contrasted excellently with Azaret’s laid-back nature, mediated by Abell. Though some audience members thought the plot was a little confusing, most students were still clutching their stomachs with laughter while they exited the theater.