COMMENTARY

By CLIFF ADAMS
Reporter

(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) — Murder and suicide were common threads among the three one-act plays presented by the UCM Department of Theatre and Dance the weekend of March 10-12. The BlackBox Theatre in Nickerson Hall seemed the perfect setting for the dark and twisted tales that unraveled.

Eugene Ionesco’s murder/comedy “The Lesson” was first on the bill. The play is about a pupil who is murdered by a serial killing professor following a lesson. Student actor Michael Miller was unable to perform as the Professor due to illness, so Kaeylen Whitt stepped in at the last minute. Whitt wasn’t an understudy and had to read lines during the play, but her inflection and tone while speaking was that of a rehearsed actress.

“What I love about acting is it’s always something different every time,” actress Michelle Boyer said. “Being able to step inside a different character and experience the world they live in through their eyes is one of my favorite things.”

An odd take on the afterlife was presented to the audience in Kobo Abe’s “The Man Who Turned into a Stick.” Gazaway’s character, Stick, committed suicide by jumping off a roof. Two servants from Hell are sent to Earth with the task of assigning The Man Who Turned into a Stick his fate. They decide he should be a stick, leaving Stick to wallow in the anguish of his damnation.

“I thought Lexi Poindexter performed extremely well,” audience member Craig Ebert said of one the performers in “The Man Who Turned into a Stick.” “Her facial expressions were great and she is such an emotional actress, very passionate.”

Audience members were shaken by the acting of Brooke Myers, as Annie, during the closing play “The Room Full of Annie” by Annika Rosenvinge. Myers’ loud outbursts, audience interactions and portrayed emotional instability captivated the audience. “The Room Full of Annie” is a dramatic piece about a troubled young woman with an alcoholic mother. Her high school boyfriend, Tom, loses hope in her and leaves town for college. When he returns, Annie loses it and pulls a gun, ultimately killing Tom.

The next round of one-acts is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. April 27-29 at the BlackBox Theatre in Nickerson Hall.