A review of the Kalamazoo College Senior Performance Series

Suddenly Last Summer

Director Michelle Myers pays a wonderful homage to Tennessee Williams with her powerful production of his one-act Suddenly Last Summer. The play focuses on the human collateral damage left behind in the wake of an untimely death. Mrs. Venable (Megan Rosenberg), the mother of the departed, is attempting to have her niece Catharine Holly (Kelly Campbell) lobotomized for sullying her son’s reputation.  She invites not only Catharine, but a doctor from Lion’s View hospital, Dr. Cukrowicz (The Kosmo’s own Joseph Schafer), a surgeon who specializes in radical prefrontal disfigurement to consider the operation.

Doctor Cukrowicz has a sense of character that builds as the play progresses. Raw nerves and hints of condescension chip his helpful demeanor away. His omnipotent smile starts as good bedside manner but becomes subtly disquieting as he discusses his work with Mrs. Venable. Mrs. Venable fields the first of the play’s two long monologues, talking at length about her son and their relationship, her character stemming more from her relationship with the deceased than from herself. Catharine is eventually brought on stage by her chaperone, Sister Felicity (Marianne Stine). Catharine’s mental instability is shown not only through her angry outbursts and rebellious nature, but also in the way she holds herself and moves across the stage, eyes darting between things unseen to the audience.

The most powerful moments in Suddenly come from the doctor’s interview of Catharine. The interplay between the actors is spectacular and enthralling. Catharine takes full control of the play’s second long monologue, and is driven by subtly shifts in lighting and the gradually building cacophonic noise of jungle birds and hand-made percussion instruments. At times of extreme emotion she walks to the stage’s edge and teeters dangerously, swaying with the sound of her own voice as she talks about Sebastian’s brutal death and posthumous dismemberment.

Francisco Pradilla, by Juan R. Medina

The play does a wonderful job of contrasting two subjective views of reality. The short and sparse arguments between Mrs. Venable and Catharine contrast well against their longer speeches. Both women’s want to reject the other’s stories of Sebastian shows a deep-seated inability to reconcile personal truths with idealization.

Tragedy: A Tragedy

Tragedy takes a serious and absurdly humorous look at our media-centric culture. Helped along by a fantastic job by the stage crew and John Reeves’ love of hanging things from the ceiling, the play miraculously blends some great technical aspects with Will Eno’s precisely bizarre style. I was impressed enough when they Camera Crew of the play (Including Wales Christian, Robert Cooper and Nolan Racich) were able to turn on the televisions over the central circular desk. It was truly astonishing when they started broadcasting live video feeds of the physically separated actors.

Eno’s work, superbly directed by Emilia LaPenta, is absurd even in its start, as a news crew begins the coverage of a global disaster: night. The news anchor, Frank in the Studio (Vincent Kusiak) has the difficult job of calling upon the various reporters out to cover various aspects of this new tragedy. At first the play delivers a lighthearted combination of professional journalism and the absolute absurd. As the night carries on, the thin veneer of professionalism breaks down around the characters. John in the Field (Ben Richards) does an amazing job of bringing an enduring humanity slowly into his role as reporter, desperately clinging to whatever he can in the growing dark, which at a few points is The Witness (Martin Goffeney). The reports on the Governor from Michael, Legal Advisor (Stefano Cagnato) are stunningly delivered and a cunning motif.

In a beautiful directorial move the newscasters begin the play by looking into their respective cameras, yet as the night grows longer and their professionalism begins to slip, they start to face each other. Although the actors are physically separated on the stage and mentally separated by their various locales, their more human moments ignore those gaps as they reach out to find one another in the darkness. At one point Constance at the Home (Madlen Meyer) actually walks away from her eternal vigil on a family’s front lawn to go and comfort an increasingly distraught and sympathetic Frank in the Studio.

As the constant barrage of media finally dies away, each crewmember is able to find their own little piece of humanity, still terrified and alone in the dark. In the end when all the cameras are left unattended and each reporter has given up, The Witness takes up the mantel of storyteller and motivational speaker for the whole team. The Witnesses’ story transforms the play from an abstract commentary on human connection into a demonstration of its importance.

Overall both plays succeed in teasing out subjective truth from a maelstrom of information, be it through the rambling stories of two emotionally disconnected women or the constant barrage of empty media. Together, the two student-directed plays provide a great two hour escape and a powerful look at staged humanity.

If you’re like me, you love pizza.  If you’re like me, you love local pizza.  So I thought a good way to start off this three part series would be a comparison of two great pizza places in Kalamazoo: Bimbo’s and Bilbo’s.  The purpose of this series is not to determine the superiority of one aspect of Kalamazoo to another, but rather to give our readers the kind of help they need in varying their morning, afternoon, or evening experiences in the city.  Kalamazoo has a lot to offer; let’s check it out.

Bimbo's Modest Storefront

Bimbo’s Pizza is downtown at 338 East Michigan.  If you’ve ever walked past Olde Peninsula, you’ll see that Kalamazoo has plenty of restaurants the further east you go, including Coney Island, Ouzos’, and Monaco Bay.  Bimbo’s menu sports very little other than pizza; under “sandwiches” are listings like “ham” and “turkey,” so I imagine that the non-pizza foodstuffs aren’t their strong suit.  Despite that, the pizza, if a little pricey, is excellent.  The soft, thin crust and fresh toppings are good, but don’t really compare to the sauce, which is clearly homemade and deserving of some kind of reward (if only the Kosmo gave out awards…).  The aesthetic of the restaurant’s interior is great too.  There are some old fashioned high-booths with large tables in the middle, always crowded on Friday and Saturday nights.  Bimbo’s also boasts their superiority in a storefront preparation area, where employees toss dough back and forth and make their sauce by the gallon.  The whole establishment is understated.  My only complaints are that Bimbo’s is cash-only (there’s an ATM inside) and that they don’t deliver.

Bilbo’s, unlike its downtown counterpart, is a little bit out of the way at 3307 Stadium Drive.  While this may deter the unadventurous college student, worry not, Bilbo’s will deliver your pizza to you at no charge (other than the expectation of a tip for the driver).  Also unlike Bimbo’s, Bilbo’s doesn’t pretend to be anything but a pizza joint: if there’s something other than pizza on their menu, they supplement it with pizza (pizza sandwiches, stuffed pizza, etc.).  Bilbo’s sports some very thick crust, fluffy and filled with air, rather than the thin, concise crust at Bimbo’s.  Here, you can choose between white and whole wheat crust; I chose wheat because I’ve never had such an option before; truly delicious!  Bilbo’s is also a little pricier than some of the mainstream joints and you get a little less (quantity, not quality) than you do for a comparable Bimbo’s price.  Despite that, there’s certainly a reason why Bilbo’s had the money to expand to a second location at 6202 South Westnedge in Portage.

Me, I’m a thin crust guy, and I’d rather walk to get my pizza than have it delivered to me.  So for my buck I’d choose Bimbo’s, but the whole wheat crust and free delivery charge from Bilbo’s makes it a difficult decision.  In the end I feel good supporting either establishment, since both are locally owned and operated.  It all boils down to how you’re feeling the next time you’ve got some extra cash and a rumbling stomach.

Check out Kalamazoo Comparisons, Part 2: Downtown Drink Deals next week.