The Spectrum

Issue date: 4/14/05 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: The Spectrum/ COURTNEY GOTSHAL [Clockwise from top] Millionaire Georg Bamburger (Mike Moloney), crashes Brindsley´s (Alex Kantarelis) catastrophe of a party in "Black Comedy"; Bill (Samuel Bolles) and Betty (Katie Duratti) navigate the pitfalls of romance in "Sure Thing"; and Al (Dan Hooks) explains the details of certain metaphysical states to his friends in "The Philadelphia."

This past weekend, the SHU Players presented "A Night of One Acts," featuring "Sure Thing," "The Philedelphia," and "Black Comedy." Each one act play was produced well and allowed the audience a chance to see some unique theatrical techniques.
"Sure Thing," directed by Mathew Libassi, was a comic piece that follows two characters who experience a host of problems associated with dating.
When you meet someone in a café, and you're interested what do you do? How many different ways are there to ruin your chances? Even though this is a short play with a minimal cast and setting, it still works because the audience can relate to the unsure characters being portrayed, and their failed attempts to make good conversation.
The second play preformed was "The Philadelphia," directed by senior Katherine Ariano.
Al (Daniel Hooks) is eating lunch when Mark (Justin Schiavone) comes running in frazeled and unsure of why he is not getting what he asked for. Al explains to him that he is in a "twilight-zone" state known as a Philadelphia and in order to get what you want you must ask for the opposite. The Waitress (Megan Bagley), too, is in her own little world and her interaction with her two customers made the scene extremely funny.
Finally, "Black Comedy" is a one-act play by British dramatist Peter Shaffer in which the playwright explores the effect that loss of light would have on people's interactions with one another.
The play is a farce set in a London flat during an electrical blackout, and is written to be staged under a reversed lighting scheme: meaning that the play opens with a dinner party on a darkened stage, but the stage lights come up when the fuse blows and the characters are left to grope in the dark.

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