What do you get when you mix murder, lumberjacks and a man in drag with a bunch of laughs? The University’s lab season production of “The Secretaries.”
The Five Lesbian Brothers’ play “The Secretaries” was the first show to open the College of Music and Dramatic Arts’ lab season this semester. The show, which ran from Sept. 27 to Oct. 2, was directed by Ph.D. student Colleen King.
The Five Lesbian Brothers is a theatre company composed of Maureen Angelos, Babs Davy, Dominique Dibbell, Peg Healey and Lisa Kron. According to its website, the company “[creates] provocative lesbian theatre for the masses through the fine feminist art of collaboration.” As a company, the group has been awarded the Village Voice Obie Award, a New York Dance and Performance Award and a New York Press Award as Best Performance Group.
This comedic horror play tells the story of five secretaries in the ’90s who work at a lumber mill in the fictional town of Big Bone, Oregon. One catch about the secretaries — they’re a cult. And once a month, during their menstrual cycle, the secretaries murder a lumberjack.
“The script is amazing for the show, which was why I was originally drawn to it,” King said. “I’m always looking for ensemble pieces with good roles for women. The piece deals with a lot of issues that were very potent in the 1990s that actually continue today.”
Some of the issues the show tackles include the way women internalize sexism and create conflict among themselves, as well as dealing with body and eating issues, King said. While tough topics to cover, the issues are hyperbolized and handled in a satirical manner.
One of King’s choices for this all-female show was to cast a male as a part of the ensemble. Skye Bocage, in drag, plays the role of Ashley Elizabeth
Fratangelo, one of the secretaries.
“When you are casting an ensemble, you have to find the right pieces to fit together to establish the group dynamic,” King said. “I went into the auditions expecting to cast all women, as it is written that way … [but] when Skye had his audition, it was so good, and it was so on theme with what ‘The Secretaries’ deals with.”
The show had to be put together quickly as it was the first lab season show of the semester. The entire production had a little over a month to rehearse and put together the almost two-hour play.
The rehearsal process, while consolidated, consisted of scene work, improvisation, meditation and ensemble-building activities, working toward a goal of building the energy of the ensemble and creating a sense of listening to the others in the ensemble before scene work was ever started, King said.
“I think that the comedy comes from all of that listening to the moment,” King said. “I think all of that lends to a certain upbeat kind of energy that makes the comedy work.”