Autumn has arrived, and with it comes the fall theater production. This year is different from any productions Prairie Ridge or Mr. Dusenske, the director, has done before. “I am very excited about the plays I am doing this year,” says Mr. Dusenske. “It is not just a play; it is three smaller plays.” All are comedies, but each play is different with a love story, a nightmare, and a spoof of murder mysteries.
The first play, called English Made Simple, is about two people who meet at a party and throughout their dialog a Professor is analyzing their speech. The cast includes Margaret Schloffner, Erin Oszewski, Neil Pretkelis, and Ensemble, which includes Melanie Mackay, Jackie Mackay, Cecilia Smith, Grace Vivrett, Grace Pontius, and Elliot Wesa. It has its fair share of wit and hilarity without being too difficult to understand.
The Actor’s Nightmare is the second of the three plays, and also a short one. George, the protagonist, finds himself on stage dazed and confused. “I don’t really understand what is happening, how I got there, or what is going on around me,” Jack Disselhorst, a senior who plays George, explains. Along with Jack there is also Julia Reid, Margaret Schloffner, Olivia Jensen, Jimmy Bossemeyer, Brittney McHugh, and Ensemble. This performance includes some Shakespeare, some oddities, and definitely a bunch of laughs.
The final selection, clocking in at an hour, is The Real Inspector Hound, a show-within-a-show spoof of murder mysteries, critics, and theater; a whodunit satire with a humorous twist. “I knew I wanted to do Inspector Hound and started there,” Mr. Dusenske proclaimed, however it “didn’t seem long enough to me for a full evening of theater.” In this play the audience will see Matt Baldocchi, Steven Modloch, Sierra Burgos, Cecilia Smith, Haley Glenn, Rami Halabi, Jason Kovalic, Michael Morones, Lexi Ruscheinski, and Ensemble.
Do the two people in “English Made Simple” fall in love? Is George from “The Actor’s Nightmare” really in a nightmare? In “The Real Inspector Hound” who is the murderer, and who is the real inspector? The only way to find out is to see the plays on October 19th and 20th at 7pm in the Prairie Ridge Theater. Mr. Dusenske stated, “You will be laughing all night.”
