Photo courtesy of Amanda Dumais.
Gilian Tomlinson ‘25, left, and Lily Ariel Mueller ‘26, right, as Dennis and Jackie in “Mauritius.”
Nyx Cieprisz ’26
Arts & Entertainment Editor
This past weekend, attendees of the Department of Film Media Theater’s “Night of Scenes” were treated to not one but four distinct narratives.
Students put on four scenes from Dominican writer Juliany Taveras’ 2016 play “the anatomy of light,” one from Theresa Rebeck’s “Mauritius,” Jonathan Yukich’s “A Brief History of Weather” and David Ives’ “Sure Thing.” Despite the lack of context for the scenes, the actors played their parts with such emotion that the audience felt fully immersed in each new world.
In line with Taveras’ note in the script that “[the anatomy of light] is not a colorblind story, but rather a very real afro/latinx experience,” the scenes featured all students of color. Setareh Greenwood ’25 starts the night off strong as Mamá, talking to a young child on the phone in English and Spanish. After hanging up, her calm façade drops as she kneels to pray, her voice shaking.
“What’s worse than turning away from your own child?” she asks the sky before shifting her attention to her child. “Forgive me, m’ija, for the wasted years,” she says before repeating the words “never again” as the lights fade to black.
When the lights come up, Mae Philippe-Auguste ’24, playing Freak, has a textbook meet-cute collision with Geraldine Louis ’24, playing Mami. The two flirt awkwardly before Freak works up the nerve to ask her out. When successful, Freak celebrates by fist pumping as Mami walks away and is embarrassed when Mami turns around, catching sight of him. Freak’s excitement is so infectious that theatergoers almost forget the tension of the previous scene.
In the next scene, underscored by either gunshots or fireworks — perhaps both — Mami is on the phone. Holding back tears, she worries about someone who has not been home in two days. As she talks, Freak drunkenly stumbles in, his youthful excitement gone as he sets himself down on the couch.
After a period of silence, he begins quietly, “We live in a world of animals.” He pauses, then continues, “Why the fuck are we bringing a child into a world of FUCKING ANIMALS!” The audience draws in a breath at the sharpness of his anger and the realization that Mami is pregnant. This outburst is enough for Mami to kick Freak out — he reluctantly agrees. Alone once more, Mami returns to folding baby clothes, a detail added by director Liz Almonte ’24 to show that Mami can’t walk away, the show’s playbill noted.
In the final scene from “the anatomy of light,” Freak sits on a bench alongside Mamá in her first appearance since the beginning. She tells him he must be cold, and he answers, “The self-hatred keeps me warm,” echoing the pessimism of the previous scene.
From the resulting exchange, the audience learns that Mamá is Mami’s mother, that Mami is dead and that their son is in the hospital. Freak defensively admits to visiting him before Mamá reassures him that she does not mind and encourages him to continue. After struggling to end the conversation, Mamá exits. It may not be clear what has happened before this point, but Greenwood, Philippe-Auguste and Louis more than make up for it with the rich emotions they bring to the stage.
“Mauritius,” directed by Glynnis Goff ’25, begins with Sarah Rixham ’24 as Mary, rattling off a list of facts about the titular country. Mary’s interest lies not in Mauritius itself but in a set of highly valuable stamps her late grandfather left her from the country. Her half-sister Jackie, played by Lily Ariel Mueller ’26, does not care about the stamps as her focus is on a box of bills she can’t seem to pay.
Though we are unaware of their backstory, the siblings’ dynamic is made clear by Rixham and Mueller’s acting: Rixham, standing tall, waxes lyrical about the stamps as her character refuses to entertain selling them; Mueller slouches, constantly playing with her hands as she interrupts for the sake of practicality. Tensions are heightened with the entry of Dennis, an uninvited potential buyer of the stamps played by Gillian Tomlinson ’25.
Jackie, completely aware of Dennis’ intentions, and Mary, oblivious to it all, fight over Dennis via the rules of hospitality, eventually offering him a beer, which he accepts. Dennis seems to enjoy the attention, using it to pry into the family’s business and invoking quite a few laughs from the audience.
To Jackie, however, it isn’t funny. The scene comes to a head when Mueller yells out, voice shaking, “Mind your own fucking business!” only to be all but laughed at when Dennis returns, “Did I step into a sensitive subject?” She apologizes and remains silent for the rest of the scene as Dennis and Mary bond over the stamps.
Though there have already been some laughs from the audience, the next two scenes bend further toward comedy. “Sure Thing,” directed by Visiting Lecturer in Film Media Theater Michael Ofori, depicts Namuundari “Namuuna” Negi ’27 and Katerina Midstkogen ’24 in an encounter in which the participants — primarily Negi’s character, Bill — can start over each time they say something regrettable.
Bill makes numerous attempts to woo Midstkogen’s Betty, a girl he sees reading alone at a cafe. The do-overs are facilitated by the ringing of an unseen bell. There is an inherent comedy to the varying intervals between the rings, for example, drawing attention to Bill’s numerous mistakes in rapid succession. The two discuss a variety of topics, including Faulkner, politics, dating, city life, Woody Allen movies — the early ones — and Entenmann’s crumb cake.
The biggest laugh comes when Bill asks Betty who she is waiting for, and after first answering her husband, then her boyfriend — both of which resulted in bells — she responds, “My lover. Here she comes right now!” This response results in another bell, and Bill eventually succeeds in picking Betty up. Though the scene is lighthearted, it sparks a thoughtful question: If whether or not Bill gets a date depends entirely on his and Betty’s choosing the right response, what is it that draws us to those we care about?
“A Brief History of Weather,” directed by Film Media Theater Department Chair Noah Tuleja, features Tricia Kirby ’24 and Mascha Leonie Lang ’24, playing both Earl Grey and Aloe Vera, swapping roles for the two performances.
The scene begins with Vera lying on a bare stage in front of Grey, the former having fallen from a malfunctioning hot air balloon. Grey recites matter-of-factly, “Fifty-eight degrees, with a slight southwesterly breeze. Curious, and in the market for a mate, I move toward the stranger.” The two have a melodramatic first encounter, complete with George Michael’s “Careless Whisper” playing in the background as they start to kiss. The two decide to begin a relationship, quickly change costumes and face the audience to relate the story of their lives together.
Each new stage of their lives, from starting a family, to struggling to make ends meet, to a life of crime, to a Senate campaign, to Aloe Vera getting struck by lightning and dying, all begins with the same thing: a recitation of the day’s weather. It seems that Earl Grey has found someone who loves the weather as much as he does. As he cradles Aloe Vera in his arms at the end, he recites the epigraph she wants for her tombstone: “Everything possible is happening somewhere on Earth. And above it, perpetually passive and indifferent, hovers the weather.” From their chance meeting to Aloe Vera’s death, the weather has been there through it all.
“Night of Scenes” introduced students to four different dramas in small doses. Despite playing their roles for such a brief period, each actor demonstrated a deep understanding of their character, so much so that the audience could understand them too.
Editor’s Note: Namuundari “Namuuna” Negi ’27 is on the Mount Holyoke News staff.