Each year, Recess staff writers see countless theatrical productions, art exhibits and the like, and whether they're good or bad, we pass our reviews on to you. Now's the time to give you the best of all these art forms and reward those who did exceptional work with our annual Playground Awards. Drumroll, please...
Best Art Exhibition: The DUMA receives this award for "To Protect and To Serve: The L.A.P.D. Photo Archives," one of the year's most entertaining artistic experiences. Where else can you see Charles Manson wearing a brown fringed suit?
Best Drama: Lebensraum wowed us with its originality, wit and depth. Competely student-run, this show blew the competition out of the water.
Best Musical: Godspell comes away with this coveted award. Director Adam Sampieri brought together an amazing cast and crew for a downright knee-slapping good night of musical theater.
Best Comedy: Where's Gus? Theater continued its tradition of hilarious comedy and standing-room-only crowds with its second production, Beyond Therapy. Complete with squibbling, physical extortions and a bedazzled belt buckle, Beyond Therapy, directed by Jessica Maas, made us laugh hard enough to skip our next session.
Best Makeout Scene: It wasn't actually in a play, but in the audience. When Macbeth took the stage in Reynolds, little Suzy took on little Tommy in the back row. The affair began with a gentle hand on the knee, but by the end of the show, these two middle schoolers were gettin' it on. The play was good, but I think the play Tommy got was better.
Best Set Design: Scenic designer Jan Chambers created a ship, beach and prison camp on one stage for the Department of Theater Studies' production of Our Country's Good. The task posed a unique challenge, but with creative angles, curtains and a movable deck, Chambers' set served the production while creating a statement of its own.
Best Interview Quote: Symphony Orchestra Director Harry Davidson on what the orchestra really practices for two hours at a time: "The sheer length requires a lot of stamina."
Best Actress: Newcomer Caroline White blew us away this year. From acting to singing to dancing, she was amazing in Lebensraum and then again in Godspell. We're very happy to see this fresh frosh face on stage at Duke.
Best Stage Actor: The Recess staff couldn't decide this one, so we've ruled a tie between Matt Schuneman and Greg Anderson for their roles in Godspell as Jesus and Judas, respectively. These two brought new light to their characters and worked so well together on stage it was impossible to pick just one.
Best Actor in a Video: Mike Dunleavy's performance in Dana Vachon's The Bumble Bee video in the Big Show V won him this honor. Who knew ice cream cones were so tasty!
Best Director: Matt Makel did a phenomenal job with Lebensraum back in September. He successfully put on a very difficult play and did it with flying colors. We're expecting to see great things from him as he ventures out into the real world.
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