Sisters Doing it for Themselves:

"A Night of One Acts"

A real shame. Those are the only words to describe missing the Stern play, as the college women put on an amazing show for those willing to appreciate their efforts by showing up. The show comprised two one-act plays with Shakespearean themes; the first, entitled "The Second Best Bed," dealt with Willy's strange gift to his wife in his will, and the second, "When Shakespeare's Ladies Meet," theorized about hypothetical conversations should The Bard's leading ladies congregate.

Having taken over the directorial duties for the show three weeks before its performance, Liz Renna showed both talent and a potential for a future in directing with these acts. The cancellation of the planned play, "Nobody's Gilgul," just a month ago left the heads of Stern College Dramatic Society scrambling for a replacement because... the show must go on. Devorah Cenker, President of the SCDS, decided on these two one act plays as substitutions as they seemed easily achievable, and to her credit they were a rousing success.

Tim Kelly's moralistic play, "The Second Best Bed" was enacted by a mostly inexperienced cast, but the newcomers to the stage brought the play to life in the constricting Koch Auditorium. Written for children in order to teach the evils of gossiping and jumping to conclusions, the play uses Shakespeare's will as its basis because many believed it strange that this bed was the only object willed to his wife. Considering the childish material, our downtown counterparts faithfully portrayed the characters through the end.

Sorah Borenstein's character embodied an Elizabethan Joan Collins with her "Can we tawk?" style, identifying her as the expert on all rumors of the age. Opposing her in strictest terms was the self-styled Calvanistic Miriam Grossman, the housekeeper who disapproved of the gossiping, yet herself desired to hear the juicy rumors. Valerie Schwartz, sister to the famous YCDS thespian Alan Schwartz, demonstrated stirring stage presence as Mrs. Shakespeare, and allowed us to hope that Anne Hathaway indeed trusted her late husband and completely supported his work in London, far from their home. Unfortunately for all the actresses, the juvenile writing restricted their attempts to reach their true potential.

While the first half of the show was enjoyable, the second act provided mind-blowing entertainment. The basic plot of the play is an amalgamation of the well known female Shakespearean characters reprising their roles in a round-table coffee klatch. Each individual actress managed to completely morph into character for their time on stage and add a certain "je ne sais quoi" to the spoken lines. In truth, what determines how well a play is judged will not be that the actresses memorized their lines, that only allows the play to rise above utter failure. To excel, the characters must physically interact in ways that are not written into the script, but are meant to be added during blocking. It is in this category that the "Ladies" act surpassed all expectations.

Katherine, portrayed by Dina Gielchinsky, energized the stage with fierce sexual flamboyance as she infused every gesture with untamed attitude and no-holds-barred personality reminding us of the shrew's wild past. Whether licking her lips in sensual delight in tune to a comment, or ending a sharp retort with the modern colloquialism "girlfriend," Gielchinsky propelled her character to the edge.

Kim Glassman seemed to hate her outfit. The bland, grey, black-striped robe both suited Portia on the way to court and reflected her character's serious and staid view of life. Portia commanded power, bringing placidity as well as reverence to the stage, which only made the times she broke away from the mold more amusing. Glassman's previous acting experience allowed for precision in delivering her potent dialogue.

Exotic and neurotic, Desdemona, portrayed by Marina Klochan, received enhancement from Marina's Russian accent. Bemoaning the problems of jealous lovers, Desdemona attempts to warn Juliet not to fall head over heels in love with Romeo, but her claim is thrown back in her face. To her credit, Klochan refused to have her hair pulled back, the resulting 'do adding dimension to her character's hopelessness.

"That girl's got bats in her belfry." Yes, poor Ophelia is left dancing aimlessly with herself backstage. This hysterical portrayal, accomplished with flying colors by Shifra Chana Rothstein, aroused comic pity from the excited audience. Left to twirl on her own for a large part of the performance, the character provided ample opportunity for Renna's direction as well as her own improvisation to the delight of the crowd.

Adrianne Segal's Siren of the Nile vamped across the stage to various Egyptian music, including the 80's Bangle's hit "Walk Like an Egyptian." Her outlandish makeup and costume emphasized Cleopatra's inner character of an experienced seductress, and complemented her biting remarks. As a returning actress to the Koch stage she wowed those in attendance using her whole self to portray the character. Segal seemed uncannily at home as the Egyptian queen and thoroughly enjoyed herself on stage.

The object of their collection, Juliet, deserves no less an accolade than the rest. Appearing in a long white dress Lisa Younger played a young, innocent and precocious Capulet. The audience's initial reaction to her appearance mirrors that of guests at a wedding to the bride: we ooh and ahh silently (it's a play after all, we can't make noise) and are completely unprepared for her character's sharp wit. Juliet listens to each of the other character's advice and then slams them back using their own case against them. Yet we remain naïve and unsuspecting for each case; even after the first four we expect Juliet to listen to Cleopatra. How foolish on our part. The play ends with Juliet's recital of a contrite, little soliloquy, somewhat out of place, but forgivable considering how wonderfully the young women enacted the rest of the play.

What made the production extra special was the fact that it was the first time a student, as opposed to a faculty member, directed the play. While Mark McGovern normally directs the SCDS performances, after the cancellation of "Nobody's Gilgul," he had too many personal time constraints to begin work on a new production. Ironically, this was a blessing in disguise as the students stepped up, nominated Liz Renna to her directorial debut, and ran the event themselves. Renna, bedecked in overalls for the job, successfully showed everyone just what she's made of, and provided an example of why student-directed plays should occur more frequently.

The entire school should share in her pride in the cast, her success, and the knowledge that this was truly a student production. Furthermore, this should provide an impetus for YC to offer opportunities for student-directed plays and independent theatrical societies. Liz Renna blazed a path into a new era in artistic expression at Yeshiva University; it's time for the rest of the University to follow her courageous lead.