Theatre bellyflops with ‘Ballyhoo’

The cast and crew of the CSC theatre department obviously put a lot of time and effort into the production of The Last Night of Ballyhoo. Unfortunately, the static plot, stereotypical characters, and flat portrayal of southern Jewish culture resulted in an unmemorable performance.

The play revolves around an upper-class Jewish family that resides in Georgia during World War II. Adolph Freitag, played by Rob Foresman, senior of Papillion, a bachelor and businessman, lives with his widowed sister Boo, played by Jayma Loghry, freshman of Sidney, and her daughter, Lala, played by Amber Nightingale, junior of Morrill. Adolph and Boo’s widowed sister-in-law Reba, played by Angela Heesacker, junior of Hay Springs, and her daughter Sunny, played by Angela Stransky, senior of Scottsbluff, also live with them. These characters struggle with their identities as Jews within Jewish and non-Jewish cultures. When Sunny meets an orthodox Jewish man, Joe, she begins to question not only her culture, but her prejudices as well.

The play’s main strength is its set, designed by Scott Cavin and constructed by several students from the theatre department. Comprised of a living room and partial kitchen, the set is furnished with black and white photos and old-fashioned furniture. These elements, along with period music, effectively establish the time period. The kitchen and stairs are on different levels from the living room, helping to portray the emotional distances between the characters as they interacted from those locations.

The play itself is uninteresting because of the static plot. There was no significant action; the plot consisted of mundane, disconnected events in the lives of the family. Lala went to the movies. The cook quit. Reba knit a sweater.

The lack of significant action is compounded by stereotypical characters—Boo is the discontent housewife who attempts to live vicariously through her daughter, the capricious young girl who obsesses over actors and rebels against her mother’s wishes. Reba is the typical clueless blonde. Her daughter Sunny is the up-tight student who cares more about books than boys, until the “perfect” boy comes along.

These shortcomings could be compensated with strong acting, but such is not the case in CSC’s production. The actors’ stereotypical portrayals create a distance between the characters, so their relationships seemed stilted and unrealistic. Adolph and Reba supposedly dote on Sunny, but their patronizing behavior toward her suggests otherwise.

Loghry and Nightingale can’t speak to anyone without yelling. The actors’ emotional outbursts are so exaggerated that they are virtually farcical; their characters come across as ridiculous. The detachment between the characters made their sudden transformation into a happy Jewish family completely unbelievable.

The actors’ presentation of southern Jewish culture is as flat as the portrayal of their characters. Their southern accents were grating, and several of the characters lose their accents as the play progresses. Then again, it’s probably difficult to maintain an accent, considering the actors bellow most of their lines at each other.

For example, although Joe, played by Travis Beguin, sophomore of Rushville, is from New York, his lack of an accent and sloppy diction made him sound like a modern teenager instead of a young Jewish businessman. The actor’s lack of confidence when he speaks Yiddish makes the character seem like he doesn’t know a thing about Yiddish or the culture he claims as his own.

Brad Buckles, senior of Cheyenne, Wyo., as Lala’s fiancé Peachy, sounds more like a cowboy than an upper-class Jewish man.

All in all, the CSC theatre department has done a superb job in past performances. Sadly, this performance doesn’t live up to that high standard.