Falcon theatre’s night of one act: a comedy and a tragedy

Falcon Theatre’s one act play, A Comedy and a Tragedy, was a surprisingly refreshing mixture of comedy and horror. Performed by Jeanette Ringenberg’s Performance Theatre classes, the play was divided into two sections, the (Dis) Concerted Choir and Shuddersome: Tales of Poe. The contrast between light humor in the first act and sinister theme of Poe’s works in the second made the play that much more interesting, keeping the audience on their toes.

The “(Dis) Concerted Choir,” a clever play on words, introduced the humor displayed in the first half of the program. This portion gave viewers insight on the fact that performing in a choir is not as glamorous as it may seem. In between melodic verses of Christmas carols, the choir members inexplicably blurt out various issues they endure, from flatulence to itchy pantyhose, sending giggles through the audience.

Shuddersome: The Tales of Poe featured a collection performances based off of various works by American author Edgar Allan Poe. Included in Shuddersome were, “The Bells,” “The Oval Portrait,” “The Masque the Red Death,” as well as my personal favorites, “The Tell Tale Heart,” and perhaps Poe’s most famous work, “The Raven.”

The first act, “The Tell Tale Heart” is about the murder of an old man by presumably his son, or in this plays case, his daughter. The protagonist (Juliette Redden) played the role of the murderer with calculated passion and expression, growing steadily more hysterical as the story climaxes. The story also features sophomore Nick Zarate as the old man and seniors Miranda Fyfe and Abby Lindauer as the policemen.

The last act, “The Raven,” was simple in set, but large in impact. Including the talent of seniors Miranda Fyfe, Olivia Tollefson, and Kati Joyner, as well as junior Allie Moesta, and sophomore Sarah Hogan, the act consisted of a simple, yet powerful utterance of Poe’s famous poem. The audience seemed quite impressed by the amount of lines the actors were required to memorize, besides the emotion that they put in their words.

Overall, the most impressive part of Shuddersome was the actor’s ability to paint the story almost entirely through voice. As seen through the earsplitting scream at the start of “the Tell Tale Heart,” coupled with the sinister chanting throughout the play, the actors do a phenomenal job of portraying the horror of Poe’s stories.