It’s an Olio, a four-man wonder featuring the talents of JP Allen ’11, Ben Meader ’10.5 and Gillian Durkee ’11, as well as the multiple abilities of Worth Baker ’12, played at the Heburn Zoo over the course of last weekend. One of its aims was to show other students that they could perform without the formality of most Middlebury shows and still be successful.
“People can really enjoy a performance even with haphazard lighting and a sparse set,” said Baker, who was also in charge of lighting.
The play took the form of a string of scenes, conceived and written by the team, united by humor and an interesting incorporation of different media. The large screen hanging across the stage projected everything from video games as the audience entered to an entire scene that had been shot earlier, watched by the audience and cast alike. Film was a big part of the show from the start. And in a move that is nothing short of genius, food was also provided on stage.
“There was always the idea of mixing media,” Baker said. “We were really excited about it.”
In times where so much entertainment is moving away from the traditional stage and into digital media, the interplay of the two is indeed fresh and exciting. The most particularly successful moments were when digitization was able to enhance the effects on the stage, such as when a recurring but unseen energy ball was finally visualized — but also when film excerpts stood alone to momentarily relieve pressure from the stage.
The varied nature of each skit attests to the great energy and talent of those involved; the project was conceived just last semester and has evolved significantly since then. Originally planned as one large piece, the production team ended up dividing up and splicing together several of the most powerful scenes. And diverse they were: in the time-span of only one hour, floating heads gave voiceovers to unwanted potluck food, a student of “purposology” met his demise, scheming champions were crowned, plants were awarded and surprisingly eloquent rubber ducks began unwanted journeys through the wilderness.
The title of the show perhaps best reflects its goals of a being a jovial and somewhat haphazard mix, designed to show others that this kind of theater is more than okay; synonyms of the word ‘olio’, for those of us who don’t recognize it, include ‘hodgepodge’ and ‘miscellaneous puppetry’.
It is appropriate, then, for Baker to have described the whole process as “really incredibly fun to do. The process changed a lot of times, but I was working with really talented people.”
The show’s quality and energy will surely make other students believe they can try their own lively performances in the future.
"It's an Olio" breaks fourth wall and other theatre conventions
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