Sophocles, Euripides and now....Testiclese
I have just returned from a wonderful performance of "Testiclese," an original play by Nat Topping presented at the University of Michigan's Residential College (RC) theater. I fear that I won't be able to say enough good things about the play or tonight's performance, but I feel compelled to try.
Nat Topping is a wonderful young man, a talented actor and playwright. He is a talent to watch, destined for greatness. The Fates themselves have woven his thread into the fabric of time...wait, that's from the play. Suffice to say, the kids got talent coming out of his ears.
The play is a parody of classical Greek tragedies, where the Hero has a tragic flaw that leads to his demise. The Heroic figure in this work is Testiclese, played wonderfully by Matt Hollerbach. He has left his beloved town of Sinus to go fight before the walls of Troy. He never actually makes it to Troy, getting a little lost on the journey and returns to Sinus early. He has had adventures along the way, killing a monster with no less than fifteen penises. Unbeknownst to Testiclese, in so doing he brought upon himself the wrath of the monster's creator, none other than Cecil, the vengeful god of Fruit Salad. Cecil is played by Kurt Preston, who inspires more laughter from the audience than terror. He is especially wonderful in his scene with his mother, Hera (played perfectly by Susie Schutt) who urges her son to take up the Banana of Death to take vengeance against Testiclese.
Returning to Sinus after his adventures, Testiclese is greeted warmly (perhaps a bit TOO warmly) by his mother, Chlamydia. Chlamydia is brought to life by Dayna Smith, who animates the part with a high energy performance. Every eye is on Dayna as long as she is on stage. But Testiclese has a true love, none other than the lovely Princess Vaginea (thats right, Vaginea and Testiclese!) who is played by Virginia Corrigan. She is the true innocent beauty, waiting for the return of her hero from abroad. Her father, the mighty strange King Seniletes, is played by Sam Botsford, a young actor with great dramatic range. In this role, Sam's natural comedic mania is given free range. His entrance is a scene not to be missed!
Proving that there are no small parts, only actors with small parts (wait, perhaps I didn't get that quite right) Jillian Steinhauer appears as the Seer in only one scene,. But oh! what a scene and performance it is! Her execution was flawless and I look forward to seeing her in future RC performances. And I would assume that we will be seeing her professionally before too long.
What would a Greek tragedy be without a chorus? Impossible! The chorus is used in this play to provide more than exposition, and much credit goes to Isabelle Carbonell, Julia Garlotte, Erin Kaplan, Zach Lupetin, Will Rak, Luke Randall and Doug Werder. Take a bow, ladies and gentlemen. Burke Greer does a wonderful job as the Leader of the Chorus, an important player in the drama. And Ryan Healy steps forward as peasant from the chorus who decides to take matters into his own hands.
Nat Topping begins the play with an intentionally overblown and humorous introduction to the play that immediately draws the audience in. Playwright and director of this work, I am glad that he also found a way to not deprive us of his considerable acting talents.
In summary, this is as good an original work as I have seen in some time. Ensemble theater is alive and well and living at the RC theater in Ann Arbor.