--by Brian Lavery
I have always been in awe of people who are involved in theatre productions (or maybe it’s just unabated jealousy). Theatre produces a different breed of people; a breed that I don’t fully understand (having absolutely no acting skills or knowledge of theatre myself) but for whom I have the utmost respect and appreciation. Some of Calvin’s amazing talent in theatre was on display this past Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for all to see at Sushi Theatre.
The concept behind Sushi Theatre is simply brilliant. It’s a way for student-written, produced, directed, designed, and performed theatre to be presented to the Calvin community. According to the program, this is the fifth year that the Student Playwright Productions provided this opportunity.
I greatly appreciated the chance to see other facets of Calvin’s diversity showcased on campus. As a friend told me, it’s a great way to see what your fellow students are up to in their academic pursuits. In fact, much God-given talent was shown in these five productions.
There was much variety in the five productions: comedy, drama, intellectual comedy, and the ever-popular dead monkey genre of theatre. The first play, *some assembly required (written by Matt Forsythe and directed by Jeffrey S. Teeple), was a neat little play dealing on the surface with the troubles involved with Christmas shopping but more deeply dealing with some moral issues (even using a Christ figure). I could easily relate to the character of Doug (superbly played by Pete Stroobosscher) since I just recently got out of the action figure obsession stage myself (just for the record, where can I find a Stanley doll?).
The next production was a drama directed by Tim Kooima and written by Claire Basney. Promise? was the story of Sara, played by Jayne McCombs, as she went through all the discomfort of a relationship gone sour. In this monodrama (a play involving only one character with no one else to cue off of) Jayne gave a very respectable performance.
Isis Unbenched, the afore-mentioned intellectual comedy (for lack of a better description), involved a little bit of everything; magic rings, basketball, hound dog...what more do you need? Written by Rob Huie and directed by Matt Forsythe, its "coiling plot knew no rebounds."
Marc Miller’s Contents Under Pressure was a very intense drama dealing with a sensitive topic (suicide). Directed by Jason Coleman, this play showed the consequences of a life without Christ and the hope that belief in Christ provides. Joel Veenstra (playing Peter) did well as the sole actor in this play.
The final play of the evening, Seven Scenes with a Dead Monkey,
was written by Matt Miller and directed by the great and noble
Stefan Van Engen. This production had everything you could ask
for humor-wise: ayatollahs, conquistadors (either of which is
an excellent response to the question "What do you want to be
when you grow up?"), and a parody of fragrance commercials (with
an excellent light show presumably put on by Josh VandeZande)
among other things. The dead monkey may have stolen the show (and,
yes, Stefan has assured me that no animals were killed or abused
in this production).
If I do have a qualm with the evening it is this: the dramas suffered from being sandwiched between the comedies. They were not as climactic as they should have been simply because I had been laughing directly before the dramas and there were comedies following them. Maybe this could have been remedied by placing the dramas together after the intermission or even performing the dramas and comedies on separate nights.
Overall, however, it was a very enjoyable evening put on by very gifted Calvin students; hopefully Student Playwright Productions will continue to put on these theatre extravaganzas. I encourage all those who were unable to attend this year to come out and support their fellow students next year.