Andrew Hatcher '99 hopes the audience sitting on the floor of Collis Common Ground will be roaring with laughter this Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights when he makes his directorial debut with his evening of comedy entitled "Laughing With You."
"Laughing With You" entails a package of two comedies, one titled "WASP" and the other "The Whole Shebang."
There are no chairs for the audience for these plays, nor is there a conventional stage. But then again, these are not conventional plays. The wooden floors of the Common Ground will serve as both to break the traditional barriers between the actors and the audience, Hatcher said.
The plays, uncovered by Hatcher during his winter vacation, both carry the theme of religion and sex.
"WASP," the first comedy presented in "Laughing" is what Hatcher describes as "Leave it to Beaver" meets "The Twilight Zone."
Written by comedian Steve Martin, the play is about a dysfunctional family of white Anglo-Saxon Protestants whose members can hear voices. Mom (Brenda Withers '00), the daughter (Dara Liotta '00), and the son (Mike Holmes '00) can all hear voices. Dad (Jay Hanlon '97) is the only character that is unable to hear a voice.
The actors playing the voices are within the audience. Although the voices can see and hear the family members, the family members can only hear the voices.
"Each character finds an understanding within the voice," Hatcher said. "Within the voice, the characters find a soulmate."
"The Whole Shebang" is more lighthearted than "WASP."
In this second play by Rich Orloff, God (Morgan Faust '00) tries to earn her Masters of the Universe degree and is presenting her senior thesis project, the creation of the heavens and the earth, to the board of review. God decides to bring two of her human creations played by Jon Gibbs '99 and Amanda Jones '97, to the review.
The cleverness of the comedy comes in when the board begins to ask the human beings a few questions, Hatcher said.
"The topic of religion is very interesting to me," Hatcher said. "I grew up in the south. I never really went to church,but all my friends did. I had to wrestle with that -- if I was a bad person and what that meant."
Hatcher said "now that I've thought a lot about it, it's hard to figure out. If you make things too serious, you're going to drive yourself crazy."
Hatcher doesn't intend to "poke fun" but bring into light the confusion that accompanies the issue of religion and encourage laughter with these two plays.
"Laughing With You" will premiere in the Collis Common Ground on Monday night at 8 and 10 pm, and will be performed again on Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 10:30 pm.
