Students stage Oates monologues

Although sitting through 12 monologues can be trying on an audience's patience, the talent and never-fading energy of the cast in last night's Theater Arts production flowed effortlessly. The performing arts group's national premiere of Joyce Carol Oates one-act play The Secret Mirror and their production of Friday Night drew on the talent of each of the actors. Actor Chris Stillwell said he and his co-actors were intentionally cast by director Sara Rutstein in challenging roles. All five actors successfully brought life to 24 different characters in the span of two hours -- a task not easily accomplished. Oates attended last night and she said she was impressed with the actors' performances. "In some cases these performers [were] up to the level of professional actors," Oates said. The Secret Mirror is a "collage play," according to Oates, since it consisted of 12 unrelated scenes. The unique nature of this play required each member to change age, personality and lifestyle almost at a moment's notice. College junior Marcie Levine exemplifed the actors' ability to change with ease. Levine initially played the role of a politician's wife who is accustomed to living in the background. But two scenes later, in the scene "The Anatomy Lesson," she is credible as a little girl demanding her mother share the secret of her birth. Although Theater Arts' production of The Secret Mirror is a national premiere, individual scenes have been performed previously. College graduate Jef Johnson demonstrated his skill to the University community last semester in the Arts House production of Extremities as a rebellious young man. Johnson once again skillfully performs the role of an angry young man. A few scenes later he is still excellent as an elderly gentleman who refuses to accept his death in the scene "The Floating Birches." In yet another scene, Johnson returns to the role of a young boy who is confused about whether or not killing his parents for the inheritance is a good idea. College senior Anthony Byrnes was superb in each of his roles. First in Friday Night as a rough, beer-guzzling man and later passing through a spectrum of roles in The Secret Mirror. He concluded the evening with a powerful performance of a cross-dresser trying to deal on his own with society's prejudices. College junior Alexandra Lopez commands a presence that forces people to take notice. While she used this to her advantage in Friday Night, at times it was difficult to hear Lopez and her fellow actors. Throughout The Secret Mirror, she continued to use the aura when she successfully portrayed the last wife of Bluebeard. But she harnessed her presence to convey a loving, patient and slightly reserved mother in "The Anatomy Lesson." Recent graduate Rutstein had said that she was told by Oates to ignore the pre-written stage directions. Oates said yesterday that she was impressed with Rutstein's staging. In addition, the lighting complimented the staging and was especially effective in "The Floating Birches" as the old man finally accepts his death. Friday Night and The Secret Mirror continues tonight through Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Annenberg Center Studio Theater. Tickets are available on Locust Walk and at the Annenberg box office.

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