Each semester, USM students write an original play as part of a playwriting course taught by Professor Walter Stump and one of those plays is chosen for production the following semester. This time out, that play is “November/December,” written by theatre major Chris Gyngell. “November/December” opened Friday at the St. Lawrence Arts and Community Center, to an enthusiastic-though sadly diminutive-audience.
“November/December” follows the lives and loves of four college students over the course of the months of November and December (hence the name).
Set design for the show, done by department chair Charles Kading, is effectively minimalist, consisting solely of a series of slate gray platforms placed at differing angles. The backdrop is also rendered in dark tones, with three intersecting lines representing (I’m assuming-I could be wrong) the changing relationships between the characters.
Kudos to costume designer Jodi Ozimek for April’s wardrobe, from the spiky boots to the leopard-print coat; the choices are not only perfect for the character but also just generally chic and a lot of fun. But why does Russ put on support hose when he gets out of the shower? Isn’t he supposed to be twenty? Those are my Dad’s socks.
Throughout the performance, junior Jason Cook showcases his impressive comedic timing and range, delivering some great lines with a sarcastic bite that effectively tempers the dramatic temperament of the other characters.
Sophomore Stacy Strang, the only female in the cast, does well in her role as the provocative April, delivering the character’s rare moments of vulnerability with the depth necessary to earn some sympathy from the audience-no small feat, since she’s pretty much a ‘ho through the entire play.
Junior Jeff Provencher plays the lovable schlub Russ-in writing this, I realized that I don’t know if he’s supposed to come across as a lovable schlub. But I suspect that’s what the bagged peanut butter sandwiches and slightly overzealous poetry are meant to convey; if that is the case, Provencher does so admirably, with a believable boy-next-door vulnerability and naivet?. Plus he has nice eyebrows, which for some reason always makes someone more endearing to me. But the heart of this cast undeniably is sophomore Andy Sawyer, playing the central character of Bax.
Sawyer’s ability to inhabit this role is uncanny; from Dylan Thomas epigraphs to heartfelt declarations, the actor commits without reservation to the emotions and eccentricities of the character. It says in the program that this is his first USM show; seriously, I was completely mesmerized and am looking forward to seeing him a lot more.
Now…onto the play itself. I don’t want to give anything away about the plot, but there’s some smoochin’. And some swearin’. Russ and Seth get incredibly high from one toke of what I can only speculate must have been very high-grade ganja, to affect our characters so profoundly.
I won’t lie: Things get a little melodramatic at times. Fortunately, the fact that Gyngell establishes the characters as poets (with the exception of Cook’s character, who’s an actor) in their late teens/early twenties gives him a great deal of leeway in the angst department; I’ve never met a twenty-year-old poet who wasn’t teetering on the brink of self-destruction.
As a result, the drama serves as a way for these characters to effectively comment on situations we’ve all experienced at one time or another. Okay, perhaps we haven’t experienced them quite that profoundly, and-all right, we may not have experienced the whole swimming-with-Dad monologue (go see the play if you don’t get that), but who hasn’t been bludgeoned by unrequited love once or twice? Shut up-you have too.
With all that said, the wonder of this play actually lies in its words, a fact that I find incredibly refreshing in our verbally bereft world of instant messaging and reality TV. Gyngell’s script moves fluidly from comedy to drama; that’s an achievement unto itself. But, the playwright manages to do that with lines that are not only emotionally resonant, but are also insightful and true to each character’s individual voice.
Gyngell has three poets in this show, right? All three of those poets read their work (which is, of course, his work) at some point in the show-Gyngell manages to convey the soul of these characters through their words, and it’s fairly remarkable.
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“November/December” runs for one more week-this one. That means ya gotta get your tickets now, kids. Performances take place at the St. Lawrence Arts and Community Center on Munjoy Hill, in fair old Portland. Call the Theatre Box Office at 780-5151 for reservations and information.