By Michael Foster-Sanders/campus editor
The NE Campus theater program will present Marc Camoletii’s classic Boeing-Boeing this month.
Due to its comedic tone, the play is regarded as one of the greatest farces in stage play history.
Director Jacob Cabe described how he decided to put Boeing-Boeing on the NE theater schedule.
“The first production of the season was A Streetcar Named Desire, which was long and dramatic, so we needed a mixture for a good play season,” he said. “I saw the revival of Boeing-Boeing eight years ago on Broadway, and I laughed so hard it blew me away. If I don’t get the chance to act in the in the play, I’m going to at least direct it.”
The 1960s Boeing-Boeing is about a swinging bachelor in Paris named Bernard who’s engaged to three women who are stewardesses and do not know about each other’s arrangement. Things go sour when his best friend comes to stay with him, and Boeing has a faster airplane that puts the three women in town at the same time. Bernard soon forgets what lies he told the women, and trouble ensues.
Cabe also talked about how he put his spin on the play by focusing on female empowerment.
Photo by Lacey Phillips/The Collegian
“What I’ve been trying to do is focus on the strengths of the main three women in the play to make their presence felt,” he said. “The German woman was told to be terrifying, and maybe a spy. The American woman is from New York City. And we gave her that New York brashness that doesn’t play around. The Italian woman is connected with family.”
Abby Morton, who plays Gloria Hawkins, said she wanted to bring the different depth of being an American woman in the 1960s onstage.
“The other two women are from different countries, so Americans are loud,” she said. “I’m going to be that strong woman from New York who makes assumptions and thinks she can do everything.”
Lorn Davis, who plays another love interest of Bernard, spoke about the challenges of the play.
“It’s accents and dialects that you have to learn, and in and out with doors,” she said.
Danny Rengif, who plays Bernard’s best friend, Robert, hopes the audience leaves the play with a smile.
“The show is going to be intense and keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next,” he said.
The play runs Nov. 29-Dec. 2 with 7 p.m. performances and a 2 p.m. matinee on Dec. 2.
