by Bridget Carpenter
Comedy/Drama
Teachers at Madison-Feurey High assume the
troubles of their students in this fast-paced, serio-comic play from the 2003
Humana Festival. Directed by Casey Sean Grimm (Walmartopia, We Won’t Pay!
We Won’t Pay!). Midwest Premiere. For Mature Audiences Only.
Auditions: June 11 & 12 @ 8 pm at Plymouth UCL, 2401 Atwood Ave.
Performances: September 28, 29, 30, October 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 @ 8 pm
October 15 & 22 @ 2 pm
On the Evjue Stage
PRESS
Play snares teachers' arrested development
The Capital Times
Friday. Sept. 29, 2006
RENA ARCHWAMETY BEYER
High school is a time some may remember fondly while others would rather forget. Healthy adults can leave their puppy crushes, cliques, insecurities and emotional swings behind in adolescence.
But these games can be hard to escape if you never leave school - as three teachers discover in "The Faculty Room."
In its tradition of staging provocative drama, Mercury Players Theatre's latest show, Bridget Carpenter's "The Faculty Room, is an unsettling comedy that mixes drugs, guns and improper relationships in a cross between Mary Kay Letourneau and Columbine High School. The troupe has indicated that this show is for mature audiences only.
Set in the fictional Madison-Feurey High School in a small isolated town, the entire play takes place in the school's faculty lounge scattered with heap of books, an old beaten sofa, spare desks, tables and a mini fridge.
Tensions pulse between Zoe, played be Martinique Barthel, and Adam, played by George Gonzalez, two teachers who have a past together and now compete over which one will capture the affections of a "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" among their students.
New teacher Carver, played by Michael Herman, struggles to understand and be accepted by his colleagues while guarding an explosive secret from a former teaching position. Meanwhile, students have become obsessed with "the Rapture" or Day of Judgment prophesized by the popular "Left Behind" -type novels.
Barthel and Gonzalez showed excellent chemistry as Zoe and Adam, and they transitioned believable among playfulness, concern, anger and disgust toward one another. Gonzalez gave a natural ease to the sharper and slightly more mature teacher, and Barthel carried the play through emotional highs and lows as her character degenerated from a sarcastic and sophisticated young professional in a sexy black skirt suit to a lovesick and self-destructive child in torn cargos and a faded hoodie.
Rob Matsushita gave a good understated performance as another teacher, Bill, a Silent Bob-type character who said very little but drew many laughs from Thursday's 20-member audience with his focused and deliberate entrances and exits.
The script took some time to pick up in the first quarter of the show, but director Casey Sean Grimm and the actors paced the rest of the show well, taking full advantage of the unexpected twists and turns in the plot.
"The Faculty Room" is a humorous and disturbing look at what happens when adults in isolation fail to move on from childhood and adopt limits and responsibilities. The play was well-cast, sharply executed and as captivating yet disarming as watching violent crime on the evening news.
Those who have left behind the turmoil and passions of high school can breath a deep sigh of relief.