One Shel of a performance
Sara Afzal, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 5/8/08 Section: News
Two actors walked onto the stage; a woman wearing nothing but a towel, and a man in his underwear. They began to argue about the man's choice to play Russian roulette, which is spinning the cylinder of a revolver loaded with only a single bullet, and pulling the trigger.
This one-act play, entitled "Click," opened "A Shel Silverstein Evening," a student-directed performance of author Shel Silverstein's short plays and poetry last Friday and Saturday evening in the Fine Arts Center of the University of Massachusetts.
"Click" is not a work that most people associate with Silverstein, who is most known for his children's books such as "The Giving Tree" and "Where the Sidewalk Ends."
Indeed, the aim of "A Shel Silverstein Evening" was to expose the audience to Silverstein's adult literature, while also revisiting his childhood stories and poetry, said Jenna-Lee Carreiro, the director and a senior theater major.
The children's poem, "Hug O' War," was performed by assistant director and 2006 theater alumnus Troy David Mercier. Mercier recited the poem in a high-pitched voice and held up a white stuffed animal bear over his face. Towards the end of the poem, two other cast members joined him, holding pink stuffed animal bears, while the song "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye started playing. The assumption that the stuffed animal bears were going to "get it on" brought laughs to the audience.
The performance had a total of seven cast members, including Crystal Chasse, Tyler Wilkinson, Kaitlin Hayden, Leanne Sims and Emily Cordes.
Although Carreiro directed the show, she also starred as the wife in "Click," along with Mercier as the Russian roulette player.
The one-act "Buy One Get One Free" was performed by Crystal Chasse and Emily Cordes. It depicted one of Silverstein's more racy dialogues about two prostitutes who sell themselves with the slogan: "Buy One Get One Free." At the end of the performance a man actually showed up, ready to take the offer.
This one-act play, entitled "Click," opened "A Shel Silverstein Evening," a student-directed performance of author Shel Silverstein's short plays and poetry last Friday and Saturday evening in the Fine Arts Center of the University of Massachusetts.
"Click" is not a work that most people associate with Silverstein, who is most known for his children's books such as "The Giving Tree" and "Where the Sidewalk Ends."
Indeed, the aim of "A Shel Silverstein Evening" was to expose the audience to Silverstein's adult literature, while also revisiting his childhood stories and poetry, said Jenna-Lee Carreiro, the director and a senior theater major.
The children's poem, "Hug O' War," was performed by assistant director and 2006 theater alumnus Troy David Mercier. Mercier recited the poem in a high-pitched voice and held up a white stuffed animal bear over his face. Towards the end of the poem, two other cast members joined him, holding pink stuffed animal bears, while the song "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye started playing. The assumption that the stuffed animal bears were going to "get it on" brought laughs to the audience.
The performance had a total of seven cast members, including Crystal Chasse, Tyler Wilkinson, Kaitlin Hayden, Leanne Sims and Emily Cordes.
Although Carreiro directed the show, she also starred as the wife in "Click," along with Mercier as the Russian roulette player.
The one-act "Buy One Get One Free" was performed by Crystal Chasse and Emily Cordes. It depicted one of Silverstein's more racy dialogues about two prostitutes who sell themselves with the slogan: "Buy One Get One Free." At the end of the performance a man actually showed up, ready to take the offer.
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