Press Releases

January 14, 2001
Interact - One Act Plays

Contact:
Jane Finalborgo
Darren Johnson
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

Eastern Long Island's Only Venue for New Works from Adult Playwrights

Southampton, NY - A gay scoutmaster, a dot-com millionaire and Napoleon's ghost each are faced with startling revelations in the fifth-annual "InterAct" series of one-act plays at Southampton College. This year's performance is subtitled "Stories of Color," as each one-act incorporates a particular color into its theme and costumes.

This is the second-straight year that the plays in "InterAct" are all home-brewed, most of them coming out of Southampton College's esteemed MFA in Writing workshops with famed cartoonist and humor writer Jules Feiffer, award-winning playwright Robert Reeves, and Time magazine essayist Roger Rosenblatt. "InterAct: Stories of Color" will run Fridays and Saturdays January 26-27 and February 2-3 at 8 p.m. in the Avram Theater. Tickets are $8. Call 287-8480 for more information.

"InterAct" is the only venue for new, adult-written theater on Eastern Long Island, and Michael Disher, who co-directs the pieces with Paul Conroy, said the idea has really caught fire on campus. "This time we had 40 submissions - doubling the number we received the year before," Disher said. "It's a hopeful sign for theatre in general that there are so many students who want to write for stage, and 'InterAct' has become a vital component of the MFA in Writing program."

Twelve one-acts were selected, which was the easy part of the process, Conroy added. Writers then had to work with the directors and the College's popular troupe, Southampton Players, to make their plays conform to the color scheme and the traditionally spartan costumes and sets. Each one-act will only use grey, black and a color that fits the story's theme.

For example, in "The Pink Lady," written by MFA in Writing student Josh Perl, the title color is only found in the drinks of three older women (Diana Finegold, Sonia Ustach and Priscilla Sprague) at a strip bar as they ogle a scantily clad waiter (Matt Vilbas). Eventually, they learn that love, sex and romance truly are timeless.

Different than last year, not all the pieces are comedies. But following in the "InterAct" tradition, the plays are interconnected through a narrator and filled with offbeat characters. "Word is getting around campus that this is a really fun venue," Conroy said, "We also find that students now are writing specifically for 'InterAct,' tailoring their characters and scenes to fit the tradition."

Other plays by MFA in Writing students include: "Napoleon and Josephine," by Tana Lee Alves, which follows the French general (Brain Lang, who heads the campus' improv troupe, Say Anything) into the afterlife where his historic romance is relived; "Dot Calm" by John Gannon, where three victims of Internet layoffs (Players' veteran Chuck Novatka, Matt Palace and James Macaluso) meet in the unemployment office; "The Trojan Stallion," by Scott Andrew Christensen, where two scout leaders (Chris Lombardo and Josh Perl) talk about homosexuality; and "Hamlet on Trial," by Dan Haynia, where the Danish prince of Shakespearean lore (Vilbas) faces court-martial and lampooning by his peers.

Other titles: "Battle of Hearts," by chemistry student Valerie Chamberlain, finds a couple (Ericka Winne and Jeff Schaeffer, who both recently played leads in the troupe's "Anything Goes") on the eve of their first anniversary faced with a skeleton in the closet; "Choices," by recent Southampton graduate Lisa McClusky, looks at women and their past relationships; "Model Behavior," by co-director Conroy, finds three very different men (Cam Polio, Players' regular Teague DeLeone and Tom Rosante), disrobed and exploited for what they thought was art; "The Last Grasp," by community member Joyce Pitkin, finds a family squabble, then acceptance as their father departs; and "Not Dark Yet," by undergraduate writing student Brian Houghton, is a tender portrait of a grandmother (Finegold) and grandson (Lang) coping with life's unfairness.