Photos courtesy of University Theatre
“Laughing Stockâ€Â serves as anecdote
Count Dracula emerges on stage ready to drain the veins of another victim, but just as he aims for the jugular, the unthinkable occurs—his plastic fangs fall out and go down the front of the victim’s blouse.
“That’s live theater,â€Â Kathleen McKinley, director of University Theatre’s “Laughing Stock,â€Â said, quoting the popular theater motto. “You never know what to expect during a live show; you can’t go back and try again like they can in movies and TV.â€Â
“Laughing Stock,â€Â University Theatre’s last production of the season, is a farce that highlights the multitude of blunders that can occur during a live show.
The Playhouse, a small fictional theater company, is in for a hilarious ride when it schedules three major productions—“Dracula,â€Â “Hamletâ€Â and “Charley’s Aunt,â€Â—in a short summer repertory season.
With a limited amount of rehearsal time, resources, and in some cases, talent, the directors, actors and crew strive to deliver all three productions as flawlessly as possible, but the results are far from perfection.
Photos courtesy of University Theatre
“The craziest production they put on is ‘Dracula,’â€Â McKinley said. “There are so many special effects that don’t work; It’s just one malfunction after the other.â€Â
Jordan Roberts, a senior theater major who plays the role of the company̢۪s artistic director, said the mishaps in the show mirror some of the experiences he̢۪s had in other productions.
“I’ve been in shows where tech stuff has gone horribly wrong and I’ve had to go on stage and fix things,â€Â Roberts said.
“I was in one production of ‘Taming of the Shrew’ and there were these doors on a platform that were supposed to slide open or closed, and they wouldn’t close. The crew couldn’t move so I went on stage and tried to strong hold them shut,â€Â Roberts said.
McKinley said that although the play is meant to exaggerate the numerous things that could go wrong in a production, that it really resembles the reality of what happens when a small company with a low budget and inexperienced actors puts on a large production.
“I’ve seen it all, walls fall down, people not come in at their entrance, actors faint,â€Â McKinley said. “The worst mishap occurred during one production I directed. It was a sentimental scene where the actor was holding a teddy bear and the bear caught on fire and she actually had to stomp on the it to put it out.â€Â
With six productions this semester alone and with rehearsals for each being a grueling three hours, five nights a week, it̢۪s not surprising that university theater students have had similar experiences as well.
“It was the final dress rehearsal of show, when one of the leads got flustered and thought she had a quick change when she didn’t,â€Â Ferin Petrelli, a senior theater major said. “I played the maid and was the only person on stage and I had to improvise.
“Time goes by so slowly in moments like that.â€Â
As humiliating as something like that can be, Roberts said sometimes malfunctions rev up the energy in a show.
“We welcome weird mishaps, because it adds more fun to the play,â€Â Roberts said. “One time someone dropped out of a play at the last minute and we had to move people around and someone just memorized the lines that day and it was just exciting to see what would happen.â€Â
Wanted mishap or not, McKinley said “Laughing Stockâ€Â gives the cast, crew and hopefully some audience members, a chance to look back and laugh at themselves.
“It’s a chance to look back lovingly at out foibles and admit how serious, intense, frazzled and completely caught up we can get in the production process as if it’s a matter of life and death,â€Â McKinley said.
“Laughing Stockâ€Â
“Laughing Stockâ€Â runs May 8-10 and May 12-16. All performances begin at 8 p.m. except for Sunday, May 10th’s showing, which begins at 2 p.m. All performances are in the John Wright Theatre located in the Speech Arts building. Tickets are $10 for Fresno State students, $15 for other students, faculty and seniors, and $17 for the general public. Children under five will not be admitted.