Do you cry when baby seals are killed? Rebecca does, and quite frankly, it doesn't seem to be helping her job hunt.
"Administrative Assistant," by Chantal Bilodeau, is only one of the many pieces performed as part of "Escaping The Box 2003" by members of the Pandora's Box theater company earlier this month at the Alleyway Theatre.
Along with "Broken Moon" by Jeannie Staniloff, "Mystic Motion" by Cathy Skora, and "Open Immediately" by Sarah Nowak, "Administrative Assistant" made up the show's first act. "The Barbie Complex," "The Story of Chuey Chai Bpen Ja Gai" (a Thai dance not performed at the show January 10th) and "The Girls," finished out the evening's entertainment.
Pieces like "Administrative Assistant," "Open Immediately" and "The Barbie Complex" highlighted the comedic skills of their actors. Susan Drouzd appeared in the first sketch as Rebecca, a young graduate seeking employment, and showed off her skills with timing in both pieces.
Candace Lawrence, who plays the female interviewer in "Administrative Assistant," did her best performing in "The Barbie Complex" as Teresa. As one-third of a trio of Barbie-doll-obsessed girls, her girlish expressions led to the audience's general hysterical laughter, as did those of Debbie (Adair Luhr). Teresa, Debbie, and Renee (Nowak) try to bring their Barbie doll to life, only to be astonished with the consequences of success years later.
Nowak's "Open Immediately," in which she also performed, had the age-diverse audience in stitches with lines such as, "It's what's on the inside that counts - and I might be contagious!" The final line - which is a package that represents her - is marked "open immediately, time sensitive" and "filled with ... porn!"
Although a scene about an abortion clinic waiting room is probably required material for any show stressing its commitment to Planned Parenthood and the 30th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, "Broken Moon" was definitely the least engaging piece in the series of scenes.
Nowak and Luhr do their best to bring to life the characters of Pauline and Lila, respectively, however, Lila's dreamy musings on why she is facing an abortion fail to win the audience's sympathy. Pauline, on the other hand, spouts so much MTV-era pop psychology that her transformation from self-centered to sympathetic is hard to believe.
Cathy Skora's "Mystic Motion" was not a play or a monologue at all. Instead, the audience was treated to a brief Indian dance piece. Skora's motions were enthralling, and everyone in the audience seemed taken in by the way she combined grace, strength, and mystery into a representation of femininity.
Finally, "The Girls" ended the show with a set of monologues by various Buffalo playwrights, and with the exception of the end of Aaron Randolph's "Exposed" (performed by Jim Parzych), the pieces were mostly humorous. Drouzd, who co-wrote "My Girls" with the show's director and well-known area actress Lisa Vitrano, followed the opening remarks of the "mammary m?(c)lange" with a short monologue about her interactions with her breasts.
"Itty Bitty" by Ellen Opiela" and "Stand Up Straight" by Alleyway's Director of Public Relations and the Artistic Director of KidShowCo, Joyce Stilson, were both riotously funny musings on what "T&A Man" writer L.G. Smith referred to as women's preoccupations with size, while Vitrano and Nowak's "Boob Zombies" raised the question many a female has asked herself: What if women and gay men ran our country? Could they conquer it simply by having the women march shirtless on Washington?
"Escaping The Box 2003" accomplished a difficult feat with their early January performances; they managed to blend humor and meaning with acting that had audiences making emotional investments, almost immediately, in characters that were only on stage for (at most) a double-handful of minutes. By including men in the cast and the directors, it avoids becoming simply a "Vagina Monologues" knockoff, and highlights one of the most necessary components of any true search for liberation and understanding: inclusion.
By looking at what both women and men think of women's bodies - and why - "Escaping the Box 2003" demonstrates how well theater can open any number of discussions about how people treat those around them and think of themselves. It's only a shame Alleyway's schedule meant the show's eight performances didn't take place while the students who might have enjoyed the performances the most were in town to attend.
