The short answer is no. But that doesn't mean the plays are poised to come off without a hitch.
With only two weeks of work under their belts, the members of Duke Players are trying to piece together two short plays to present at this semester's Players Labs.
The Duke Players are a student run organization with funding from the Theater Studies department. Carolyn McDaniel, a sophomore and director of The Information Desk, described the Labs as "an opportunity to work on more off-stream pieces that the department can't risk doing."
Traditionally a collection of shorter one acts, this year there are only two longer plays. Although the directors and actors kept each other laughing late into Tuesday night's dress rehearsal, many aspects remained unfinished despite the impending opening this Thursday.
McDaniel held back giggles as she covered the lack of a working soundboard with impromptu humming. And after cast members of Tough Choices for the Next Century finished a run-through resulting in a broken table and malfunctioning PowerPoint presentation, Aaron Marco, Trinity '04, admitted, "It's been kind of crazy."
Marco stars opposite senior Alessandra Colaianni and freshman Danya Taymor in Tough Choices. Director Matthew Patrick, a sophomore, has had to make some tough choices himself, albeit with a much more immediate deadline. Colaianni, who plays the role of a gun-toting crisis manager from Texas, said Patrick envisioned her character as an uptight New York lawyer as late as Sunday.
Despite the fast-paced rehearsals, both actors and directors are clearly enjoying themselves. "It's been so much fun working together," Taymor said of her crew mates.
McDaniel, who translated and adapted the script for Jean Tardieu's The Information Desk from French, admitted she was anxious in the beginning.
"I was afraid when I was translating that it wouldn't come out as I had envisioned it, but it totally has," she said. "These guys are just awesome to work with."
McDaniel described the play as a "dust-off" of a French absurdist comedy from the '50s, originally written by Jean Tardieu. Her play focuses on the meeting between a receptionist, played by senior Karen Burns, and a man in search of answers to life's questions, played by sophomore Rob Carlson.
The receptionist switches between several personalities as she moves from offering simple guidance to exercising an absurd control over the man's fate.
"I'm more or less just toying with him," Burns said with a sly grin. "There is this psycho-bitch, sex-kitten, robot thing going on. I'm whatever he needs me to be."
Meanwhile, audience members could only giggle at the sheer ridiculous humor of the situation, with McDaniel herself joining in. "It's good to see other people laughing," she said. "I was afraid no one else would get my kind of humor."
Patrick's actors showed an equal enthusiasm for their piece, despite having to work through blocking and prop challenges. Smiling at each other, the three actors remained positive.
"The whole point is to experience experimental theatre and enjoy a show even though it might not be as polished," Colaianni said. "It's just more fun to put up."
The Players Labs are scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. All performances will be held in Brody Theater behind the tennis courts on East Campus. Additionally, the Friday and Saturday night showings will be followed by performances by Duke University Nude Theatre.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.