The Wittenberg Theater Department held its second Gonzo Theater of the semester this past Wednesday, using a mirror with a piece of caution tape covering part of the mirror’s center as the event’s inspiration for the pieces.
Mickey Toppins, ’22, was the lead producer on this show with Logan McCord, ’19, as the assistant producer.
Before the show began, Toppins and McCord invited the audience to give a round-of-applause, dedicating the performances to retired Theater professor Jimmy Humphries, who recently passed away. McCord wore Humphries’ signature outfit: overalls and a flannel.
To start the event, actors McCord and Kalen O’Daniel, ’19, performed “Harry Topper,” written under the pseudonym “Please Don’t Kill Me” and directed by Brady Fox, ’19. “Harry Topper” stared McCord and O’Daniel as two close friends who talked about how they would “hypothetically” have sex with one another, given the opportunity. All throughout the performance, they would explicitly talk about how they would perform each sexual act with one another, never forgetting to remind the audience that it was “no homo.”
Brady Fox’s, ‘19, show called ‘Harry Topper’
To start the event, actors McCord and Kalen O’Daniel, ’19, performed “Harry Topper,” written under the pseudonym “Please Don’t Kill Me” and directed by Brady Fox, ’19. “Harry Topper” stared McCord and O’Daniel as two close friends who talked about how they would “hypothetically” have sex with one another, given the opportunity. All throughout the performance, they would explicitly talk about how they would perform each sexual act with one another, never forgetting to remind the audience that it was “no homo.”
To conclude the piece, Dillon Thurber, ’22, walked in, giving O’Daniel a piece of paper that read: “Bruh look in the mirror, you gay,” to which McCord and O’Daniel reconciled with “yes homo” and a true bro-hug.
In-between the first piece and the second, Toppins hosted an interpretative dance battle featuring Thurber and Isabel McClure, ’21, who faced off before Fox joined McClure for a rehearsed dance to “Kung Fu Fighting.”
The second piece, “The Man in the Mirror and the Things He’s Seen,” was directed by McCord and written by Joy Heino, ’21. Manny Ramirez, ’20, starred as the man in the mirror as he narrated a spin-off of the classic “Snow White.” Lindsey Shannon, ’20, portrayed the Huntsman while Raegan Briscol, ’22, played the Queen. The Queen had an aptitude for killing, murdering not only the Huntsman but the Seven Dwarfs as well throughout the piece.
By request, Lexi Gallion, ’19, got back on stage alongside Fox to do another dramatic reading, this time to “Thotiana” by Blueface in-between the second and third pieces.
The third piece starred Audrey Feiler, ’19, Maggie Keverline, ’19, Claudia Scully, ‘19 and Taylor Oberschlake, ’20. They performed a piece written by Braxton Hahn, ’22, and directed by Kamilla Jensen, ’19, called “The Inner World.”
Feiler portrays a Wittenberg college student who is being taunted by her many emotions and personal struggles, including the “devil on her shoulder.” At the end of the piece, Feiler does some “self-care” by brutally murdering all of her demons, a.k.a. all the other characters up on stage.
“Hashtag Back From the Dead” was directed by Heino and written under the pseudonym “Sophie Sunflower.” Ramirez, Bella De Jesus, ’22 and Dan Butera, ’19, took the leads for this piece.
De Jesus and Ramirez broke into a museum afterhours after hearing rumors that the artifacts came to life after dark. The two decide to break Butera’s Teddy Roosevelt out of the museum, but before that can happen, Butera brutally murders them both, ending the piece with Roosevelt’s thirst for world dominance by creating an army through the use of social media on De Jesus’s cell phone.
In the fifth and final piece, actors Elise Loux, ’22, Cassie McLean, ’19 and Eleanor Boru, ’22, portray three teenagers who want to summon a demon, played by McKenna Bryant, ’22. The piece was directed by Thurber and written by “I’m so sorry pt. 2,” called “Furry Mary.” After summoning the demon, McLean and Boru realize that it was a terrible idea while Loux decides to seemingly take on the monster herself. The play ends with both Loux and Bryant disappearing behind the stage.
The Theater Department hopes to have at least one more Gonzo Theater before the end of the semester. More information will be provided in the upcoming weeks.
