I don’t like coming in to a play without knowing what the story is about, or what kind of show it is.
Before the technical rehearsal of “A Little Nonsense,” Paula Barrett, associate professor of communication and the show’s director, described the play.
“It’s a play,” she said. “What is life?”
She kept me in the dark and I’m glad. It was a sweet surprise. I connected instantly to both characters. To top it off, I stayed connected from start to finish.
“A Little Nonsense” by Oliver Hoare makes complete sense, at least to me. But that may be due to the fact that I make no sense so often.
The statement made in the play “a little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men” is true.
You don’t need to know what the play is about to appreciate it.
Zak Westfall, a junior theatre and communication arts major said, the show has been quite a journey.
“It’s extremely draining,” Westfall said. “It awakens some sort of familiarity within me. It doesn’t seem difficult. It seems like something I’ve been doing for a while even though I’ve never done it before. It feels normal. It feels right.”
Michael Haas, a sophomore political science and theatre major, has his own thoughts.
“It explores the duality of the world: good vs evil, happiness vs sadness, youth vs age, dark and light and how both those elements exist in all of us,” Haas said.
“It’s a constant battle for balance, yet you never really achieve that perfect state of balance; it’s always in flux. People coming to see the show are going to experience a little bit of humanity. Like the Rev. Shawn Clerkin says, ‘Humanities majors are humanities majors; it’s so intertwined.’”
Haas said there are elements of theology, psychology of the characters themselves, poems and literature.
“It’s constantly left brain, right brain, another duality,” Haas said.
I rarely laugh hysterically and with honesty in public.
This show is so simple and so complex at the same time – dualities, like Haas said. The message goes straight to the subconscious.
It’s not that words can’t explain it. Words don’t need to explain it.
We all get it; it hits us right in the heart. It’s one of those things everyone gets instantly.
Westfall said “the show makes him think about himself and about human essence. “We’ve laughed in rehearsals, we’ve cried in rehearsals, we’ve sat down and just thought for a while,” Westfall said.
“It’s so well-rounded; it encompasses so much, all in one show, all in less than 45 minutes.”
“A Little Nonsense” runs its final show at 8 p.m. Thursday.
Trust me, you will want to see it more than once. I know I do.
ROMAN DENISYUK
