By Gabi Poisson ‘17, Staff Writer

On November 3rd, 4th, and 5th, fifteen students led by director, Mr. Scott Jacoby, performed Middletown, a contemporary play by Will Eno, which “explores the universe of a small American town.”

The plot of Middletown is difficult to pin down. On a superficial level, it is about two people who meet and have a connection. One of them dies and one of them has a baby.  But beneath the surface, Middletown is about identity, language, and purpose.  Eno’s goal was to show birth, death, and everything in between. It was a lofty ambition, but I think I wouldn’t be the only one to say wholeheartedly that somehow, he was successful in his goal.  There was laughter; there were tears; there were heartbreaking moments of utter normalcy, but in a two hour slice of life, Eno showed a complete version of how he views the world, and in the process, he changed the way I view it.

Middletown was not necessarily an immediate hit for everyone. I can say from personal experience that after first reading the play, I was beyond confused. Why did one of the scenes take place in outer space?  Why did Eno choose to follow up the death of John Dodge with a full-out Native American dance?  And what was the purpose of that tour guide scene in act one?  This sentiment was echoed by the cast and crew.  Claire Dempsey ‘18, found the play “confusing and too mature.”  Assistant director, Joelle Gross ’17, shared the same sentiment, and found herself asking, “what was Mr. J thinking?” It seemed unrealistic that a group of teenagers could accurately portray a group of characters that were experiencing the weight of the expectations that came with adulthood and middle age.

A few weeks into the process, however, the cast and crew had the opportunity to meet David Garrison, an actor from the original off-Broadway cast of the show.  He shared stories about putting on the show and his thoughts on the different characters, but what really stuck with me was his mandate that in order to succeed, we needed to find the “awe and wonder.”  If you’ve gotten to know the show, you’d know that Eno loves to echo his own dialogue. And after hearing these words—awe and wonder—from David Garrison, we began to notice them everywhere. These words were the heart of the play.  All the wonderful, all the fantastic elements just added to the authenticity, and in turn the darkness, of the play.  Whether cognizant of it or not, everyone began to change their minds about Middletown.  Joelle Gross commented, “after spending nine weeks working with this play, I absolutely fell in love with it.  It is a beautiful, unexpected, engaging, and truly relatable piece of theatre.” Thanks to David Garrison, it was apparent that the majority of the cast was finally excited to perform Middleton.

There are some pretty heavy things going on in our world right now. And for me, at least, theatre has always been something safe and far away. I think this is why Middletown was so jarring for me. It made no sense; it had characters sprouting monologues about their personal philosophies at the drop of a hat. But amongst it all, Middletown was shockingly tangible and dark. Claire Dempsey ‘18 shared that in the end, “all of the dark themes suddenly seemed very real, but I think that’s part of why I ended up liking it so much.”  We were able to capture that realness, and once we were moved by the play, we were able to move our audience.  It was an honor, and if you got a chance to see it, I hope you enjoyed.