Sitting in the Intar Theater, I anxiously keep changing sitting positions waiting trying to decide which position could possibly keep my dress from getting ruined. I knew they were going to smash a watermelon on stage at some point during the performance. What else could that ad on the back of the playbill, offering a 10% discount on a dry cleaning bill to clean out watermelon stains, possibly mean? Why would they even smash a watermelon in a play called “Teach, Teacher, Teachest”? I did not sign up to get painted pink with watermelon juice.
The play begins. My anticipation and anxiety is soon forgotten as I see the actors swinging around their small jungle gym of a stage. I was absolutely mesmerized by the skill of the actors, moving their bodies so gracefully while preventing their wigs from succumbing to gravity. The costumes set a perfect look and vibe for the characters. Maybe these people are just being artsy? Or maybe they’re crazy? Regardless, all three of the characters (the maid, the student and the teacher) were all oddballs in their own distinguishable way, and I understood now that any of these people were capable and willing to smash a watermelon to bits. I couldn’t stop analyzing the bright red on the professor’s green clothes, emphasizing what was soon to come.
Despite how nervous I was, I was able to laugh until my stomach hurt. The comedy was not empty absurd statements; everything had an underlying meaning. Everybody in the room was laughing at the geography lesson that ended up just being some odd combination shouting of sexual terms and pointing randomly, except of course for the two children in the crowd who were a bit too young to understand. Every lesson after that was lined to the brim with conservative theories as taught by the crazy green haired teacher, oblivious to his own hypocrisy. Unfortunately for the student, she did not follow her teacher’s conservative theories and was called a “stupid idiot” throughout the entirety of the show.
At the play’s climax was the watermelon scene. The teacher had decided to kill his student, just as he has all of his other past students. The actors came around with some clear plastic shield to cover our clothes from the watermelon. The teacher then brutally smashed the watermelon with his ruler, representing the brutal way in which he stabbed his student to death. This proved him and his theories to be crazy, revealing an obvious liberal siding of the play.
Despite how uncomfortable I am with politics in general, I really loved this play. I came to the play excepting to be entertained and I was. How much more could I really ask for?
