I entered Tansill Theater at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16. While most students were getting dinner or working in the library, a host of theater-minded students were preparing for their final dress rehearsal of The Drunken City, written by Adam Bock and directed by Ken Prestininzi. While in Tansill, I got a chance to talk with three of the six actors in the play, the assistant stage manager and the director himself.
As the sound crew checked cues, Rachel Maddox ’16, with headset on, told me about the ins and outs of working crew. “I run the backstage area—I wear the headset so I can communicate with the stage manager in the booth. I also have a script so I can follow the show, and I give cues.” She added, “I’m also props crew head, so I oversee the quick-changes and set changes with the props. I also make sure the stage looks good before and after the show.”
I took a peek at the stage and discovered the backdrop is the New York City skyline.The ground was black and covered with graffiti. One interesting thing about the stage was that the ground slopes up to the wall, giving the the actors more room to run around and up and down the stage, which turned out to be pivotal during a chase scene in the play.
Maddox mentioned physical exercises that the cast had to go through at the beginning of play rehearsal. Leise Trueblood ‘16, who plays Marnie in the play, said, “There’s lots of movement and a lot of synchronized timing. We did a lot of physical theater exercises because there are a lot of physical elements in the play.”
With this in mind, I was extremely curious to see what the play would be like. Director Ken Prestininzi gave me a brief explanation: “The play is about that awkwardness of discovering your authentic self and love, versus the assumptions and stereotypes of falling in love. It’s also about how coming into your own self-love is disorienting. Unexpected, small moments have the largest effects at unexpected times: small moments make the new discoveries. It’s also a comedy.” And it was!
The play opens with the three girls of the play—Marnie played by Leise Trueblood, Linda played by Charlotte Weber ‘16 and Melissa played by Eva Murray ’17—showing off their new engagement rings and telling the story about how they all went to New York City, got incredibly drunk and found they regretted some of the things they did.
Throughout the scene, there were times when the play paused and a character would give a soliloquy to the audience about what she was truly feeling. In one of these soliloquies, spoken by Murray, she forebodingly tells us “NOT to go back to New York.”
Three weeks later (as the play informed us) the girls are back in New York City, this time for Marnie’s bachelorette party. After stumbling drunkenly from a party, the girls meet Eddie and Frank, played by David Socolar ’16 and Spencer Lutvak ’16.
A night of laughing, crying, yelling and personal talks unfolds as Marnie discovers she is not in love with her fiancé. Melissa feels personally betrayed by this insight because she and her fiancé split up after he cheated on her. Linda discovers that sometimes, her drinking affects her more than she knows. Frank finds that sometimes he doesn’t listen, one of the reasons why his girlfriend dumped him. Eddie finds that sometimes he doesn’t love enough, while Bob, played by Brion Morrissey-Bickerton ’17 (another friend who later joins the girls in an attempt to talk some sense into Marnie), is told that sometimes he loves too much.
The play is riddled with small moments that change the lives of these characters. These are moments that people go through every day, so much so that this play could be about anyone. The fact that The Drunken City is so relatable is one of its successes.
Other successes of the play were the actors themselves. These characters showed more emotion and depth of character in 75 minutes than I see in a week. The drama was evidenced through the soliloquies the actors told to the audience. Weber sang a hauntingly beautiful number about “bringing the dragon home with me,” meaning either the terror she feels in NYC or her drinking problems. By the end of the play, the crowd was raving, discussing which characters should end up with whom and what they themselves would have done if they were in these people’s shoes.
The actors commented on how they felt about being in the play. Weber and Trueblood, who were in the middle of hair and makeup, asked to be interviewed together, the pair have worked together on I <3 Juliet, Into the Woods and 4 Dead in Ohio.
Weber said, “It’s been a wonderful experience: a lot of time working on ensemble-building starting early in the process, and a wonderful relationship within ourselves and with the director.” Trueblood added, “It’s been eye-opening in terms of playing a character with little affectation, with nothing to hide behind. As for being in the cast, I’ve never been in one this small, but it’s been great working with the play and the intimate development of the play. I love everyone.”
Socolar also commented on his time in this play: “ I have enjoyed being in the play very much. I like the small cast. The play is lighthearted with touches of drama, so it’s fun to act the different emotions. It has been a good experience.” When asked about other performances he’s appeared in, he replied, “I have been in one other Main Stage production and one Wig and Candle show, which were both musicals. So this has been my first straight play. Its size and set are really interesting.”
The small cast has played a pivotal role in the development of the production, which also fits with Prestininzi’s philosophy on being a director. “This play opens up something new in you, and you open up something new in the play. This is a fresh group of artists with a wicked sense of humor. They trust the mystery of articulating one’s emotions and do it without judgments.” When asked what was the biggest obstacle in the play, he said, “I don’t believe in obstacles; it’s not the way I work. I engage and create a journey. It’s all about being present—working with the familiar and unfamiliar. We must build relationships with characters and trust the method.”
His method is all about looking at everything with a new perspective. “I come from a passionate and experimental background, so I bring curiosity to all of my work. In my opinion, you can’t just say after one, two and three is four. I say, ‘What if it’s one, two, three, M? Why can’t M come next?’”
Prestininzi’s ideas are giving him a great start at Conn (This is his first semester here after coming from Yale School of Drama, where he taught playwriting). “I’m still learning how the larger Conn community shapes the individual here. It’s still a mystery and I’m curious, but that’s normal. I come in with a lot of experience, but you have to start in a naïve place—you figure out who is in the room.
Overall, The Drunken City was an excellent show with great characters and directing. Anyone who didn’t go last weekend surely missed out.
Great review of a great play.