As part of the Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s ongoing comedy series, audiences watched University of Connecticut students put on two comedy shows at the Studio Theatre on Saturday, April 25.
The first show of the night was “The Further Adventures of Nick Danger: Third Eye,” first written and performed by comedy troupe The Firesign Theatre, with this iteration of the show directed by Sandi Caroll.
The play is a satire on classic radio serials, spoofing the elements of old radio plays down to the live sound effects, advertisements, bumper music and on-air host, played by Justin Boutin.
These audio elements were created by Jake Neighbors, the sound designer for both shows. Neighbors was a sound engineer for several companies before he ended up in CRT.
“I often look at myself as the glue that helps hold all the other design areas together,” Neighbors said in an interview with CRT. “I’m making sure everyone fits together nicely so that when the audience comes and watches our show that everything is seamless.”
The story of the play is a string of messy plots tied together in a frantic attempt to fill the hour. You follow the adventures of Nick Danger (Danny Reyes) who hopes to find his long-lost love Nancy (Zachary Russell) and ask for a repayment on the ring he gave her.
Unfortunately, Rocky Rococo (Mariangelie Vélez) was conspiring with Nancy and her elderly husband Catherwood (Bryan Anderson) to steal Nick’s ring contract. They even staged Rococo’s death via car crash to implicate him in a felony offense to Lieutenant Bradshaw (Lilliana Mcintosh).
At this point, things start going off the rails, as half the cast is transported into a flashback — and then back into the present where Nancy and Nick fight with their past selves. The late President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a speech about the Pearl Harbour attacks as a cardboard cutout, voiced by Beau Brennon.
Caroll wrote about how the cast embraced her teaching method, which she calls “The Discipline of Play,” and embodied it in their performances, according to her program note. This method involves actors having fun while still remaining in the moment, which stems from traditional European comedy training, Caroll wrote.
“I’ve discovered this to be an essential skill in life, no matter the task, and this company has embraced that spirit with joyful generosity,” Carol wrote.
After a 15-minute intermission, the night resumed with “The Polycule, A Comedy of Manners,” written by Jillian Blevins and directed by Michael Samual Kaplan.
This show covers a woman’s first time meeting her new boyfriend’s polycule. The play “satirizes the conventions of unconventional relationships,” according to CRT’s description of the play on their website.
After a short introduction of each person of the seven-member polycule, their relationship dynamics and a crash course on the polyamory dictionary, we see the cracks unravel and how the faultlines between each polycule member have formed.
Fern (Claire Huebner) is the newcomer to the polycule — a heterosexual country girl who comes to a dinner party with her boyfriend Andy (Garrett LaBranche). Elise (Gianna Nichols) is a bisexual woman married to Andy and a stickler for the rules of the polycule.
Apart from the main couple and Fern, there is also Vee (Ben Lewin), the only asexual and non-binary character, who is eager to please and loves soaking up all the gossip in the house. Mira (Ian Rothauser) is a bisexual woman who has a very direct personality and used to getting what she wants.
Lastly, there is the couple Kyle (Aidan James) and Gary (Brandon Collado). While Kyle is openly in relationships with multiple people within the polycule — since his love can’t be contained to just one person, according to himself — Gary is the only monogamous person here. Gary is described as just an average guy by other characters.
One more thing to mention is the fact that characters speak in rhythmic verse, which makes for a unique viewing experience and gives a timeless edge to a modern story. This writing decision was inspired by French playwright Moliere, according to CRT’s description of the play.
Lillian Ransijn served as the intimacy coordinator for both shows. She first found interest in becoming an intimacy coordinator due to her background as a dancer and her interests in physical theatre. Ransijn said that an intimacy coordinator can help provide clarity for an actor in intimate scenes, so they can focus on delivering a good performance for the crowd.
“When you have that clarity with your scene partner, you can be assured that you know what you’re doing,” Ransijn said in an interview with CRT. “Sometimes, the intimacy director is there to support the actors when what they are doing is not reading [to the audience].”
Kaplan believes that this play is a reminder of the importance of interpersonal relationships, according to his program note.
“What better time than now to remind ourselves that, beyond our myriad shortcomings, each of us, thank the heavens, is human and thus imperfect,” he wrote. “To remember who we are to one another, all we have to do in any moment is simply see and love.”
CRT will continue showing these two comedy acts until Sunday, May 3. Tickets can be found at connecticutrep.uconn.edu.