Indiana University of Pennsylvania - Oak Yearbook / INSTANO Yearbook (Indiana, PA)

Page 28 text:

THEATER-BY-THE-GROVE: A Slice Of Entertainment In October, Theater-By- The-Grove presented The Birthday Party. a funny but somewhat confusing play which still proved enjoyable to the audience. The Birthday Party is just that: a party thrown for Stan- ley, played by Keith Edwards. But this is no ordinary birthday party. In fact, it ' s not even Stanley ' s birthday. The plot focuses on two men who mysteriously enter into Stanley ' s seemingly peaceful life as a permanent boarder at the residence of Petey and Meg, played by Bill Martinak and Avril Barwick. The identi- ty of the two men is never clearly established, but they appear to be part of a mob or- ganization. Goldberg, the lead- er, played by Kevin Renshaw, and his sidekick McCann (Da- vid Surtasky) have come to this seaside town in England to punish Petey for some past crime in the organization. They use the excuse of the birthday party to torture him in hopes of ultimately reverting him back to one ot them. The plot is as confusing as it sounds, but the play is typical of its author Harold Pinter. He focuses all of the action in one setting, the living room, con- centrating mainly on the char- acters of the house and on out- side force, Goldberg and McCann, who disrupt their lives. The stunning performances from every cast member dis- play the power of Pinter ' s writ- ing and kept the audience hyp- notized even when the plot seemed hard to follow. Avril Barwick was perfect as the de- lightfully nervous Meg, the concerned motherly type who seemed like she possessed a much more complicated per- sonality than she showed the world. Her vivaciousness was the exact opposite of her calm, level-headed husband. Ren- shaw and Surtasky also acted superbly, playing off of each other brilliantly while giving the audience glimpses of their hidden inner feelings. Their fast-paced conversations de- manded impeccable timing which was never missed. Although a Pinter play might be more suitable for a more experienced audience, even the average theater-goer was overwhelmed by the capti- vating performances of the cast. Raymonde has a flea in her ear. She thinks her husband, Vic- tor Emmanuel Chandebise is having an affair. So she and her best friend Lucienne set up a plot to catch him. Lucienne writes a letter to Victor, setting a trap for him to meet her at the Hotel Coq d ' Or. Victor mistakes the letter for someone else, and sends Romain Tour- nel in his place. Romain finds Raymonde at the hotel and thinks she wants to have an af- fair with him. In the meantime, Lucien- nes ' s Spanish husband, Carlos, thinks his wife is really having the affair because he knows that she really wrote the letter. This action and much more comes to a roaring climax at the hotel where it seems every cast member is running in and out of every room with every other cast member. Things get even further complicated, when Victor ' s twin appears as the the hotel busboy. A Flea In Her Ear, by Georges Feydeau, was per- formed by Theater-By-The- Grove in November. This bed- room comedy takes place in Paris in the early 1900s. The Chandebises, played by Nat- alie Wolf and Matt Giehl. are the center around which the rest of the comedy revolves. It is a play full of misunderstand- ings, mistaken identities, and split-second timings. These factors would seem to make the play a difficult one to per- form, but the cast does it perfectly. Edward Simpson ' s skillful directing enables the audience to understand and laugh through what could be a very complicated plot. - Dana Smith

Page 27 text:

i ' - rx ? ' v X ' - ff 4 Top e f The majorctles lead the band in the Homecoming parade Top ri hl: Pre-game conceniralion shows in ihis drummer ' s face Middle: The I UP drumline. Bottom center: The ILP Marching Band, Bottom right: Al altenlion. Bfll fuh:.uk Hh. Muft,ji«

Page 29 text:

( bnslupher I t-e Previous page: Top left Barwick. Ren- shaw, and Surtasky in The Birthday Party Botlom f r Caught In the act in A Flea In Her Ear Center A Flea In Her Far brightened evenings in November with a unique humor. This page: Top left: Surtasky, as McCann. contemplates life in The Birthday Parly Top Right: Kevin Rcnshaw as the mysterious gangster m The Birthday Parly Middle: Meg and Petey played by Avril Barwick and Bill Marlinak SotMm n i(. Goldberg tries to convince Petev to return to his old life ( hnslophcr ice Christopher ice siophcr l.cc Christopher Lee