"Betty's Summer Vacation" is not about a relaxing stay at the beach.
The Theatre X play contains very little leisure time at the ocean. Instead, it features dismemberment, blood and body parts in a refrigerator.
Death, sexual harassment, incest, abuse, violence and rape are themes throughout the show. And they're all accompanied by laughter.
The play's dark humor is intended to convey America's enthrallment with sex and violence, director Rani Copeland said.
Betty (Virginia Hubbard) just wants to relax at her seaside summer home. But her four housemates and their companions interrupt her vacation. Trudy (Jennifer Walkowiak) speaks in loud, fast rants ranging from ordering a pizza to the threat of germ warfare. Keith (Ian Alden), a socially awkward introvert and possible serial killer, is accessorized by a shovel and a hatbox that may or may not have a head inside it. Then there is the suave Buck (Shannon Flynn) in flip-flops and cutoffs who can't live without beer and sex at least 20 times a day. The owner of the house is the flippant Mrs. Seizmagraff (Joanna Furgal), who knew her husband abused her daughter but looked the other way because she was dependent on him. Mr. Vanislaw (James Gregory Schallert II), is Mrs. Seizmagraff's guest and a borderline derelict with stringy hair who wears nothing but a raincoat and loafers and maniacally laughs as he runs around and flashes everyone in the house.
Betty, who is much more naive and optimistic than her housemates, is forced to deal with all of them.
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The play is directed by UNM senior Rani Copeland and produced by SCRAP Productions and the UNM Theatre and Dance Department.
Copeland said the harsh content was somewhat difficult.
"I didn't want people to walk out," she said. "I wanted it so that when people got uncomfortable, they wanted to laugh."
She announces a disclaimer before each show: "There is high adult content and possible nudity."
Three voices from an unseen location laugh and comment on the characters' drama.
The voices sound like a laugh track. They transition from sitcom laughter to speaking in chorus, and the characters at first feel uneasy but eventually listen to their opinions and suggestions.
The voices laugh at the housemates' antics or dialogue for any reason: because it was corny, because it was true or because the voices were thinking of something else.
"We're uncomfortable, and so we laugh. We didn't know what else to do," the voices say during a particularly controversial scene, to reflect what the audience might be thinking.
Copeland said the voices represent an American society obsessed with media sensation.
"Theˇvoicesˇareˇtheˇextremeˇemotionsˇofˇtheˇaudience and American society," Copeland said.ˇ"Theyˇgainˇaˇcertainˇbloodlustˇforˇviolence,ˇandˇtheyˇneedˇtoˇbeˇentertainedˇbyˇtheˇpeopleˇlivingˇinˇtheˇhouse.ˇThis parallels society's need for entertainment, which is shown in our obsession with such court trials as Michael Jackson's child molestation case or Andrew Cunanan's murderous rampage."
The voices crave entertainment, insults and bickering. They reference Jackson's case and are angry it was settled out of court. They wanted "months of degrading revelations" fleshed out on TV.
In a rare moment of onstage quiet, the voices say what the audience is probably thinking: "We're bored! Nothing is happening! Entertain us!" Even when Betty tells the voices a bedtime story, they immediately insert pop culture, sex and violence into it.
Copeland said she chose this particular play because of the content, because Christopher Durang, a playwright known for his absurd comedy, wrote it and because a comedy hasn't been performed in Theatre X for a long time.
"Iˇhopeˇitˇshowsˇthemˇthatˇhumorˇandˇheinousˇactsˇcanˇbeˇcloselyˇrelated," Copeland said. "Oftentimes we laugh at very serious subjects, and everyone should realize that
it is OK to do so."
"Betty's Summer Vacation"
Theatre X
Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
$15 general, $10 faculty and seniors, $8 staff and students.
