SMU Student Theatre (SMUST) is working overtime in the next couple of weeks. The students in the theater department are churning out project after project, and if Buffet Theatre is any indication, SMU is in for a treat.
Buffet Theatre took place Sunday in the basement theater space in Meadows, and featured four plays written, directed and acted by students.
The first play, “Passing Go” by Trigg Burrage, was about the game of Monopoly. From the minute Beverly Johnson took the stage and hopped into a wheelbarrow, the show was filled with an abundance of jokes. From Katherine Bourne’s portrayal of what she whines was a ‘simple thimble’ to Yevgeniya Kats’ Uncle Pennybags, this show was a funny and light, like any good appetizer.
“The Party Guest,” by Nathaniel French was up next on the menu, and it was definitely more of an entrée. The play opened on Josh Kumler playing a game of solitaire with his wife cheering him on, until a stranger interrupts them.
The stranger believes he is a guest at a party, though the “hosts” ostensibly do not know him. French has crafted a story that presents the way that intrustions and strangers challenge the way that humans understand their own lives.
The third course was “Pandemic Misunderstanding” by the maitre d’ of the evening, Jessica Andrewartha. This play was a clever comment on the way paranoia forces us apart, and the only solutions are to overcome this or live alone.
Ezra Bookman’s “Coffee Pot” served as dessert for the evening. The play was an extended metaphor in which Starbucks equaled marijuana.
The play centered around four kids meeting up to drink some brew, only to have their party broken up by the host’s dad. The final scene wrapped up the play brilliantly with the father warning his kid that the reason Starbucks is banned is that eventually everyone will become addicted and feel like they have to drink it to be normal.
Overall, the night was a success and half of the fun is watching your fellow students create. Keep an eye out for other upcoming SMUST events, including “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” on Dec. 3.
