Stephen Hancock's play, "The Writer's Block" is full of loud characters, each with their own individual dysfunction.
The play opened on campus last Thursday to a nearly full house and will run through Saturday. Hancock admitted he expected the high attendance to ensue this week.
"It seems like everyone came last week," Hancock said. He is optimistic, though, that word of mouth will help maintain high attendance at this week's performances.
Opening night produced a brilliant performance although the director was nervous following the dress rehearsal.
"I'm a firm believer that a good dress rehearsal is a bad opening night," Hancock said. "The Writer's Block" opening proved him wrong."It went very well," he said after the first performance. "Just putting it in front of the audience and finding out where the really funny parts are is good."
The cast was equally pleased with the show. Freshman theater performance major Slade Kyle, who played Cullen - a flamboyant New York City talent agent - was still glowing after curtains.
"It was a fantastic opening night," he said. "We had a great audience. When they laugh it gives us energy."
The star, Jerry, played by Jason Quinn, sets up a dinner party and invites all of his dysfunctional friends. He hopes that their conflicts will inspire his play. The character himself is somewhat flavorless, but without him and his writer's block, there is no play. He serves as the instigator, trying to stir up tensions between the characters. Vivacious characters surround him, but his own personality is lost in the group.
His wife, Carol, is a stereotypical uptown New York City girl. She runs around frantically whether she is going to the bathroom or getting drinks for the guests, and constantly changes conversation topics. She does not want Jerry to take advantage of their friends and the audience learns later how she retaliates to teach Jerry a lesson.
Throw in a depressed divorcee, the guy who stole her husband, an out-of-work actor and his used-to-be-ex-wife, Jerry's agent and her arrogant husband, oh, and Jerry's tawdry ex-wife, and there lies Stephen Hancock's "The Writer's Block."
Hancock brings this cast of misfit friends together for a seemingly innocent dinner that twists interestingly at the end of the first act. The "I Love Lucy" influences on the work shine through in the characters' mannerisms. The posh characters and big-city life make the play almost like a "Will and Grace" episode for the stage.No character is safe from the biting sarcasm of the others. The constant verbal abuse inside the group keeps the audience locked in. It is like watching a Comedy Central roast, only no one person bears the brunt of the abuse.
Although the theater satire and Broadway jokes were a bit "self-aware" as one audience member described it, most attendees on opening night thoroughly enjoyed the play.
Robin Yow, junior education major, said she enjoyed the play tremendously.
"I thought they were excellent," she said. "I've got permagrin, it was so good."
Yow's only complaint was of the talking audience members. "I don't think teachers should require the class to come if they aren't going to shut-up during the play."
But the talking audience did not deter the actors, and neither did the cell phone that rang halfway through the first act. The actors continued to give the audience a stellar performance.
"It was well acted and very well cast," said David Hoover, sophomore linguistics major.
Audience members said the play was surprisingly entertaining. Stephen Krokowski, freshman computer science major, said, although he was forced to come for a class, he is looking forward to seeing the next four plays.
"I'm in a theater class and this is part of our grade," said freshman business major Brandon Bounds. "Now that I came though, I'm glad I'm here."
