The Sophian

Issue date: 4/27/06 Section: Arts

Media Credit: Courtesy of Alexis Guidotti Evan Young, Ezra Lebank and Biz Wells do some clowning around for "Side Dish."

This weekend, vaudeville theatre will return to Northampton after an 86-year hiatus, thanks to the efforts of a band of dedicated clowns and musicians. "Side Dish: A Vaudeville Show" starts its brief run this Friday, April 28 and should provide an entertaining diversion from papers, reading and labs.

According to Ezra LeBank, a graduate student at Smith and a member of the show's cast, "Side Dish" is "completely without serious intent" and serves the sole purpose of making people laugh. LeBank has mostly written and produced straight theatre in the past and often focuses his efforts on controversial issues, so "Side Dish" is a huge departure from his usual work. Still, he hopes that the show will reveal how important humor and clowning are.

The show also features Biz Wells and Evan Young as clowns. Wells is a senior theatre major at Mount Holyoke College-who some may remember from "Voices of a People's History" at MHC last semester-and Young is a professional juggler, who will juggle approximately 46 razorblades in "Side Dish," along with other dangerous objects. Live musical accompaniment to what LeBank describes as "having fun being ridiculous and hurting yourself" is provided by Sofia Abbasi, MHC '09, on piano and Katie Kloss, MHC '06, on guitar.

"Side Dish" follows the format of traditional variety shows, with a short play entitled "The History of a Hand" as its opening act followed by "entrees"-vignettes that tell a story while the live band expresses the silent action of the clowns onstage-interspersed with "side dishes," which simply feature the band. All provide an outlet for the ragtag skills of the entire cast.

In addition to the aforementioned juggling, LeBank, Wells and Young will be whistling, miming, balancing and performing acrobatics. As of last Thursday, there was also talk of featuring tap-dancing, but its inclusion is tentative.

According to LeBank, whose first clown nose was given to him by Patch Adams-the clown/doctor immortalized, for better or for worse, by Robin Williams-he hopes that viewers will realize that "Side Dish" is just as relevant as more traditional plays that deal with issues like abortion and the Iraq War, because laughter, he says is "a necessary part of living."

"Side Dish" opens Friday, April 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the A.P.E. Theatre on the third floor of Thornes Marketplace. Additional shows are Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. General admission is $10, and students' and children's tickets are $5. For more information, contact (413) 586-5553, or visit www.apearts.org.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools