From April 22-24 at 8 p.m. in
the Gateway Auditorium, the
Bucks Department of the Arts
will present “Role Play,” a theater
production starring Bucks
students and directed by Bucks
professor Michelle Pentimall
Bookler. Tickets will be available
at the door, and are $5 for
students and $7 for nonstudents.
At a recent rehearsal, the
Gateway Auditorium is dim
and hushed. Four students
stand onstage, carefully reciting
lines and interacting.
“Try smiling!” is the first
direction from Bookler.
“Prove how much you admire
yourself.”
Though many actors would
have no problem with this last
direction, these Bucks students
are sincere and humble; or at
least, they are acting like it.
The theater production “Role
Play” is actually four short,
one-act plays.
In “A Contest,” a young couple
battles over who has it
rougher, men or women.
In “The Most Massive
Woman Wins,” four women
about to have liposuction discuss
why they feel the need for
perfection.
Two guys cruising for babes
on a Saturday night star in
“Louis and Dave,” and they
discover new sides of each
other.
Finally, in “Impromptu,”
four actors on stage improvise
a play and find out who they
are behind their characters.
“The general theme is the
roles that we play in our daily
lives,” said Bookler, roles
including gender, leadership,
and the ever-secondary “main
character’s best friend.”
Bobby Lang, 21, a theater
major from Newtown, said that
the production will “bring out
the reality as well as the
humor” of the issues explored
in the plays.
Next, four new actors take
the stage, ready to rehearse
“Impromptu.” Lang takes a
seat in the center of the front
row.
At once, the students seem to
slip effortlessly into their characters,
engaging in lively dialogue.
Every now and then, an
actor shouts, “Line!” and Lang
reads out the character’s line to
the actor.
Lang and the other students
in Bookler’s Play Production
class contribute, whether by
becoming an assistant stage
manager, finding props, or
making costumes, among the
many tasks needed to put on a
show.
Becky Schneider, 22, a communications
major from
Princeton, fills in for an actress
who is unable to make this
rehearsal. Schneider carries a
copy of the script, but interacts
with the rest of the characters
flawlessly. She said that it’s
not difficult, and that she’s
comfortable doing cold readings.
Cold readings, during which
actors are handed a copy of the
script minutes before they take
the stage, are an integral and
often harrowing part of theater
auditions.
Rehearsing is challenging,
said Bookler, because students
have classes, work and other
obligations, and it is tough to
find a balance. Still, they manage
to come together and work
their magic.
“It’s a great process going
from auditions to the finale,”
said Nick Creighton, 20, a
communications performance
major from Richboro. “The
cast gets close.”
Jeff Barth, 19, a communications
performance major from
Holland, agrees. “A great part
of it is that it’s a collaborative
effort; it’s great that all these
talented artists can come
together and make something
special,” he said.
Ultimately, the humility and
sincerity shown onstage are
genuine.
“The students are working
hard and are going to come out
with a production that we can
all be proud of,” said Bookler.
Those attending the show,
Bookler said with a smile, will
get a fun night and a chance to
laugh. But they will also learn
about the dangers of “playing a
part.”
A line from “Impromptu”
sums up the message of the
production. About the audience,
Schneider reads,
“They’re no different from us.
Except that when the curtain
falls and the house lights come
up, they’ll have to go onimprovising.”