REBECCA HALE
Assistant Reverb Editor
The Performing Arts Company put on its latest show, “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress,” by Alan Ball, in an interesting venue — the front living room of University President Virginia Horvath’s home. The change in traditional atmosphere proved to be a success, as all three performances sold out.
Students and friends were ushered in through Horvath’s front door and were instructed to remove their shoes in the front hall as their coats were taken. They then moved into the living room, which had been transformed into an intimate theatrical space.
Chairs were lined up in rows, and there were even stage lights set up. The entire play takes place around one set, a bedroom, which made Horvath’s home fitting. Director Brittany Bassett explained that she got the idea from “The House of Yes,” a PAC show she’d seen done in Horvath’s home two years ago.
“I’d seen another show done in here already, so when we were looking for a location, we thought, ‘hey, let’s do it in the president’s house!’” said Basset, a senior BFA acting major. “It already takes place in the bedroom, so it’s perfect.”
The set consisted of a bed, a vanity, a table for two and a few other pieces of bedroom furniture. “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress” tells the story of five troubled bridesmaids who hide away in a bedroom at a wedding reception and lament on their own lives and nostalgias.
The play dives into the lives of these women and contains a lot of subtext that students find relatable. Each character has her own troubled past and struggle, leading Bassett to describe the characters as “the rebellious sister [Meredith], the naïve virgin [Frances], the neurotic lesbian [Mindy], the lost ex-best friend [Georgeanne] and the beautiful cynic [Trisha].”
Some of the issues illustrated within the play are sex, drugs, abuse, broken-heartedness, addiction, self-absorption, anxiety, jealousy and distrust.
Another interesting concept that director Brittany Bassett decided to implement with “Five Women” was to change up the casting. The show featured a double-cast, but instead of having two casts, she simply had the same women play different roles.
“I wanted to find something else to make it different and unique,” explained Bassett. As a theatrical exercise, this is a great way for actors to be flexible in their character. It also makes for two completely different interpretations of the same play from night to night.
“It was literally a half hour before auditions, and the idea just hit me, so during auditions, I looked for girls who could create two different characters and be able to take the challenge of creating those characters, and memorizing both [sets of] lines,” Bassett said.
For Bassett, this has been her first time truly directing a show, and she couldn’t be more proud of the success it reaped. This, of course, was thanks to the hard work of the actors, technicians, E-board, the Department of Theatre and Dance and the cooperation of Horvath.
“This is my first time being the director of a full-length play and, as an actor, I know how vulnerable you need to be on stage with the audience next to you, but I never understood the vulnerability that a director has to go through,” said Bassett. “You put heart, and time, and effort and linguistics into a script and into a play, and give everything to these actors, and for these three nights I just sat back and watched it happen, and I didn’t really know how anxious I would be, because this whole thing is me.”
Despite her first-time fears, the show ran flawlessly.
“This just came to life so much better than I could have ever imagined, so the venue was just perfect, and it gave it the exact feel that I was going for,” she said.
PAC’s next assisted production will be independent project, “Really Really,” by Paul Downs Colaizz, which will open on Feb. 7.