Spring Break
Witness's showcase is philosophical and clever
Issue date: 12/4/08
The Witness Theater troupe certainly fits the stereotype that college theater groups are a little strange. Common sights at their rehearsals include shirts with the word "SPERM," giant rocks and slinky lingerie.
Witness Theater, an amalgamation of various actors and actresses from groups like Throat Culture and Buttered Niblets, provides student-directed, student-written and student-acted sketches. Many of the actors and writers overlap between the plays, creating a camaraderie among the various people involved. Witness Theater exists to encourage creativity among the dramatically curious at Hopkins, and they do succeed at this task.
Their second fall showcase, for better or worse, is a production without limits. It consists of five one-act plays that entertain, delight and at times demand the complete attention of the audience to fully comprehend. While maybe not a tour de force, the Witness Theater's second fall showcase is worth the price of admission, even if only to see the sheer creative prowess of fellow students at Hopkins.
The first sketch "In Bathwater or Utero" shows two individual sperm "running" and searching for an ovum. The play, written by junior Eric Levitz, subtly poses the big question of life for these individual sperm by posing the question, "What's the point of a life of searching for something that may not even exist?"
Although freshman Danny Kaplan and senior Mike Wills deserve praise for their portrayals of Sperm A and Sperm B, the sketch still feels too long despite its short duration. This partly had to do with the script which recycles the same lines and has too many pauses between the dialogue. However, the chemistry between the two lead actors and the unique narrative of the existential sperm holds the audience attention and does a great job warming up the crowd for the rest of the night.
"Nebraskan Fever," written by senior Audrey Murray, is perhaps the most traditional of sketches in the showcase. The plot revolves around two women, high school friends, who are catching up on life in a café and wondering about infinite hypothetical situations.
Witness Theater, an amalgamation of various actors and actresses from groups like Throat Culture and Buttered Niblets, provides student-directed, student-written and student-acted sketches. Many of the actors and writers overlap between the plays, creating a camaraderie among the various people involved. Witness Theater exists to encourage creativity among the dramatically curious at Hopkins, and they do succeed at this task.
Their second fall showcase, for better or worse, is a production without limits. It consists of five one-act plays that entertain, delight and at times demand the complete attention of the audience to fully comprehend. While maybe not a tour de force, the Witness Theater's second fall showcase is worth the price of admission, even if only to see the sheer creative prowess of fellow students at Hopkins.
The first sketch "In Bathwater or Utero" shows two individual sperm "running" and searching for an ovum. The play, written by junior Eric Levitz, subtly poses the big question of life for these individual sperm by posing the question, "What's the point of a life of searching for something that may not even exist?"
Although freshman Danny Kaplan and senior Mike Wills deserve praise for their portrayals of Sperm A and Sperm B, the sketch still feels too long despite its short duration. This partly had to do with the script which recycles the same lines and has too many pauses between the dialogue. However, the chemistry between the two lead actors and the unique narrative of the existential sperm holds the audience attention and does a great job warming up the crowd for the rest of the night.
"Nebraskan Fever," written by senior Audrey Murray, is perhaps the most traditional of sketches in the showcase. The plot revolves around two women, high school friends, who are catching up on life in a café and wondering about infinite hypothetical situations.
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