Above: A scene from Murder by Midnight.

DiY Weekly:

DP Theatre Presents Lincoln's Shorts One-Acts

May 10, 2012
By Rita Hingorani, Grade 11

Three directors, five 10-minute plays and great actors are all what were needed to give the Lincoln Community School a night of laughter, fun and suspense.  DP Theatre has created a new program called Lincoln’s Shorts, an evening of one acts, which should serve as an additional tradition to other talented shows at LCS.

The ten minute plays Wedding Story, Bloody Mary, Fugue, Downtown and Murder By Midnight, which were directed by Aparajita Mehra, Rita Hingorani and Max Becker, were performed on the 8th and 9th March at 7:00 pm on the Nkomode Performance Arts Theater (NPAT) stage. They included great themes such as comedy, thriller and satire, which gave the audience an evening of unforgettable entertainment.

The stories of two partially amputated strangers, Joe and Mary, who bond together through the weirdest and saddest circumstance (Bloody Mary), three little girls who share their death experiences with the audience in the form of ghosts (Fugue), wannabe celebrities who are actually waitresses (Downtown), a catastrophically narrated fairy tale of the perfect bride and groom who fortunately or unfortunately get exposed at the end (Wedding Story), and last but not least detective Dick Piston who solves the murder case of an adulteress’s husband in his own unique way (Murder By Midnight) – worked well in making the performances interesting and enjoyable throughout the evening.

The audience’s response to each play was unique. If they were not roaring with laughter, they were silent in suspense waiting for the next scary or unpredictable act to occur.  Production elements such as the sound effects in the Wedding Story, Downtown and Murder by Midnight partially contributed in giving the audience the respective mood for each play. Furthermore, thanks to the high school students, who volunteered in making this a success by casting for the plays, Lincoln’s Shorts one acts has officially been launched and hopefully next year’s will be much better. Although it was amazing and fun, hopefully next year’s won’t be as stressful as this year’s!