The spotlight is up on Richard Stands’ play “The Bug.” This production proves that the show must go on – not even a hurricane evacuation can stop these actors from performing. Though a play is usually rehearsed 30 to 40 times, this cast only got to meet 16 times before the big night because of Hurricane Gustav.
The cast includes political science senior Cynthia Davila, as Kimberly Miles; theatre arts junior Joshua Eichhorn, as Dennis Post; theatre arts junior Rebecca Elizabeth Hollingsworth as Linda Taylor; and in her Loyola debut is theatre arts freshman Brittany Chandler as Davida Rajeski. “They all worked really hard, even though we had so little time to rehearse,” director Benjamin Clement said. “It’s great working with all of them.”
This satirical hour and 45 minute performance tells the story of an agitated assembly worker named Dennis Post (Eichhorn) at Jericho Inc., what seems like a powerful company. The play opens with him extremely agitated, entering the company’s president’s office, incessantly mentioning the fact that someone will be shipped off to another state, and he doesn’t want it to be him.
On stage there are three secretaries (Miles, Hollingsworth and Chandler) robotically working at their computers, ignoring the fact that there is an extremely panicky man talking to them.
Throughout the play, Post gets the secretaries to answer to his pleas and finds out that he is, in fact, not getting fired or shipped away. But in the midst of all the chaotic conversations, Post unravels a much more important piece of information.
No one has seen the assembly supervisor in the past three years, but his paycheck is cashed in every month – “the bug.” A mysterious fund is dug up in the myriad computer files, and everyone is caught up in an ingenious and riotous plot that keeps the audience laughing the whole time they are there. “I really liked it; it was fun and funny,” says graphic design freshman, Valerie Nehrbass said.
Hollingsworth mentioned how the hurricane “really set us back. It was a lot of work, but in the end, I think we are all happy with the outcome. We ended up bonding and having a lot of fun. Ben is really fun to work with.”
Alexia Barrail can be reached at [email protected].
