LateNight Theater doesn’t joke around. While the rest of you were either studying or holding fast to the fleeting spirit of youth, they put on a serious series of comedies starting at 11 pm. Bwog’s Senior Insomniac Megan McGregor reports from last night’s hilarious and eclectic performance.

LateNite Theatre’s Spring 2010 Anthology opened Thursday night in the Diana Black Box with melodic melodrama–Shira Laucharoen’s musical piece titled “Late One Tonight” served as an introductory piece before the first play of the evening, “Roofie Bros,” written and directed by Lily Feinn.  “Roofie Bros” was a true crowd-pleaser; how could a play in which three fumbling, idiotic frat boys discuss roofies not be?  Add talk of murder, kidnappings, and iTunes visualizers into the mix and success is inevitable.  Mke Kennelly and Henry Mortensen played their roles as two experienced frat boys alarmingly well, convincing their newbie frat bro, played by Matt Yeaton, to roofie Amanda, played by Alice Mottola.  Mottola’s performance was absolutely exquisite–not many individuals have the skill to remain sincere (let alone limp) in the midst of such ludicrousness.  Overall, Feinn and her cast put a comical and tasteful spin on a taboo topic that left the audience in an uproar.  Following a surprising ending to “Roofie Bros” was “Mothers in the Park,” written by Allesandra Gotbaum and directed by Fran Bodomo. “Mothers” was lightly comical and absurd, albeit less scandalously.

Arguably one of the best pieces of the evening was not an actual play, but an e-mail that was attached to a play submitted by Mike Wymbs to LateNite for potential production.  Zack Sheppard and Mke Kennelly brilliantly read this e-mail “including all grammatical and spelling errors.”  A break from all the humor came after intermission, with a piece entitled “My Brother’s Keeper,” written by Jacob Rice and directed by Steele Sternberg and starring Matt Yeaton and Severin Mahirwe.  Rice’s play, about American soldiers at war in Iraq, was provocative and heartbreaking.  Matt Yeaton showed great versatility in this serious role in comparison with his earlier role.

Following “My Brother’s Keeper” was the utterly absurd “The Truth About Barnard” written by George Curry and directed by Victoria Ugarte.  Colette McIntyre’s portrayal of a housewife who has forgotten her days at Barnard was highly comical.  The last play of the evening, “Guy Play/Girl Play, or Anthology” written by H. Levick and directed by Sam Reisman, poked fun at what men and women like to see in theater and concluded with a battle of epic proportions involving ninjas, zombies, and a fellow named Tygerclaw.

LateNite Theatre is a student group started in 1995 committed to producing student-written works.  LateNite Theatre’s Spring Anthology has three more showings–11 p.m. tonight, 8 p.m. Saturday and 11 p.m. Saturday–in the Diana Center Black Box. Tickets are free and can be picked up at the TIC.

Photo via LateNite Theatre