Deep End, the all-student theatre group, put on the hilarious one-act “The Whole Shebang” by Rich Orloff on Oct. 27 and Oct. 28. The performance was directed by Rachel Rompella ’20 with Meredith Enersen ’21 as assistant director and Anneliese Garner ’20 as stage manager.
The play ran for 45 minutes and took place in an alternate universe – it focused on the pros and cons of life on Earth. The premise of the play regarded a young student attempting to receive his “Masters of the Universe.”
The student, played by Timothy Kelly ’19, was facing a board of professors who would grade his Masters Thesis, which was the creation of Earth. The board of professors, played by Katherine Moore ’21, Maggie Fox ’21 and Aerin O’Malley ’22, were not entirely pleased with the creation of Earth, pointing out the many flaws and the endless complications of human beings.
To the student’s grave misfortune, there was a mixup in the humans who were supposed to come and be examples for the board. Rather than the ideal American family of John and Mary Doe, Edna and Harvey – who lead a less than ideal life – ended up in front of the professors.
Edna, played by Alissa Bidwell ’22, and Harvey, played by Seth Retzlaff ’22, revealed many issues with the human experience through angry debates and negative accounts of their trivial lives.
Despite all the negativity, Edna asserted her view that life on Earth isn’t that bad and that humans want to keep living because “there is always hope that things will get better.” In the end, the professors awarded the student a C+ on his creation of the Earth. The play was incredibly witty and funny, keeping the audience entertained for its duration.
“I really liked being able to have ideas and see them come forth and being able to work with actors in a different capacity than I am used to.” – Meredith Enersen ’21
Meredith Enersen ’21 said this was her first time assistant directing any production, and that she’s used to being on the other side of things.
“I really liked being able to have ideas and see them come forth and being able to work with actors in a different capacity than I am used to,” Enersen said.
The students worked on the production for about a month and even though it was a quick turnaround time, it was a short play and everyone did really well, according to Enersen.
Enersen said she “really enjoyed working under Rachel for this production and learned alot from her.”
Don’t worry too much if you missed this performance, as Deep End will be organizing a production of “Macbeth” Dec. 7-8 under student director Hadley Evans Nash ’21.
