Marriotts Ridge "Charley's Aunt"

She’s- I mean he’s- my Aunt?

Written by: Melissa Kleinberger

“So it was there by moonlight” the bright shine in their eyes, a slight smile spread about their lips. So begins the story of love. The hope for it, the loss of it, and the search for it once again. Charley’s Aunt, preformed by our very own Marriotts Ridge High School was a phenomenal way to end the week, filled with laughs and an evening full of comedy and love. 

The Show opens with a dorm room. You can see Yale posters all over the walls so at first your guessing if it’s a college dorm or just a kids room wishing to go to Yale. It starts off by one guy, Jack Chesney (Brian Gilbert), trying to address a letter to a girl he loves, Kitty Verdun (Alyssa Pacione),  before she has to move away. After several failed attempts he gives up and tries another approach. Another guy, Charley Wykeham (Brady Richards), comes in hoping jack can help him write his own letter which he confesses his love to his dear, Amy Spettigue (Sydney Morales). Then one of them comes up with a plan for the girls to meet with Charley’s unknown Aunt who is stopping by for a visit, so that they may be able to see the girls alone so they can confess their love for them. Only they would have to distract his Aunt so they could be alone. A college friend of theirs, Francort Babberly (Ben Bott), who is only wishing to get some of their drink then gets pulled into it after he breaks into their room to commondeer some booze. Babberly, aka Babs, gets pulled into the show when Charley hears that his Aunt wont be arriving for a few days. So begins the confusion and deception because they make him dress up as a women and play as Charley’s Aunt. The show takes off at a break neck pace of people trying to hide the lie which they made. There are several twists throughout the show that will leave you second guessing all that you thought from the start. 

When Babs come in to steal some drinks, he hides them all in a bag. When Jack and Charley come back to the dorm just having gone out looking for him they are over ecstatic and refuse to let him leave. They begin a game tossing his bag back and forth, thinking it completely harmless since they are unaware of the drinks inside. Each toss you can clearly see Botts facial expressions horror struck that they may drop the bag. With intents to leave, he only gets convinced to stay as Charley’s Aunt. Coming back onstage dressed as a women, you could hear the laughter and the cheers from the audience welcoming him back on stage. He gets sucked into the lie more and more having fun fooling around with the other guys girls because they are so interested in meeting Charley’s Aunt. Babs plays along until a series of events untwist when he begins getting wedding proposals! So fed up with all the lies he even begins undressing himself on the stage, and Jack and Charley have to hold him down to get the dress back on him. 
Both the girls, Kitty and Amy were played wonderfully. The two of them really played off of each others characters really well. They were always seen together and had this sisterly connection that made you feel the closeness between the girls which really showed a big chain of relationships between the characters. 

The guys, Jack and Charley, showed another side of a relationship. The connection between the two guys showed a deeper friendship than we knew. The characters all played off one another really well and they all moved about with a thread like connection linking them all to each other in some way, even if they are not on the stage the whole time. 

The costumes were a perfect match to that of the college life from older times. They looked comfortable and believable, which is what ever actor could want. The set design was beautiful. From the stained wood siding in the dorm, to the carved stone arches in the gardens, the crew did a divine job with the set pieces. 

By the end all three guys get together with the loves of their lives, and even Babs, who spend most of the show in a dress, finds the love he lost so long ago. As well Charley finally meets his real Aunt and even she falls in love again. With one promise that they will love each other forever we end the show with promises that there will be no more lies and deceptions. “Never again…I give you my word and my dress!”