On Saturday night, the Bonn Studio Theater was crowded with students, all of whom were excited to see After Hours, a series of five, 10-minute long plays with a unique twist: Each play was written, directed, and acted by BC students.
The show began with Howard Be Thy Name, a hilarious portrayal of a dysfunctional family attending mass, written and directed by Sarah Lucie, A&S '09. The characters included a neurotic mother, concerned with making her family appear normal in front of her church-going friends; a father who made it clear that he would much rather be watching the game than the sermon; a rebellious teenage daughter who did not hesitate to embarrass the family whenever she got the chance; an innocent 11-year-old girl, proud of her family's uniqueness and struggling to understand bits and pieces of the "adult" conversations surrounding her; and finally an elderly grandmother, ashamed about the disgraceful manners of her family and quick to blame her daughter for their unbecoming behavior. Lucie did an extraordinary job in creating characters, who, despite their quirkiness, were lovable and relatable. An outstanding performance was delivered by Maggie Carr, A&S '10, as the rebellious teenage daughter. Overall, Howard was not merely a mindless comedy but a satire of the importance we place on our social image by pointing to the numerous reasons why Catholics attend mass, many of which have little to do with spirituality.
Next came Make Me Smile, a story about a drunken encounter between an aggressive man claiming to be a feminist and a woman at a party, written by Colin Doyle, A&S '08, and directed by Kimani Gordon, A&S '09. The play centered on his attempt to explain to a woman, while drunk, why he felt so strongly about women being placed in such compromising situations. Juan Rodriguez, A&S '11, delivered an exceptional performance as the drunk man. His strong presence on stage, combined with his accurate portrayal of the confusion that comes with being drunk, was received with loud enthusiasm by the audience. Despite the exceptional cast, the play seemed a bit anticlimactic and lacked the thunderous ending many audience members anticipated.
2008 Woodie Awards
