2008 Woodie Awards
"Fuddy Meers" plays on absurdity
First play of season opens tonight, promises comedy, mystery, dark humor
Jordan Krueger
Issue date: 9/28/07 Section: Trinity Life
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As you enter the Ruth Taylor Theater Building's Jane and Arthur Stieren Theater, you may notice a disclaimer printed boldly on yellow paper, cautioning the audience of the strobe lights, herbal cigarettes and hard language. Upon looking through the program, you may also notice that no character or setting in the play is called "Fuddy Meers."
In fact, many aspects of "Fuddy Meers," including its title, hinge on mystery. Claire, the central character of the play, suffers from psychogenic amnesia, a condition in which every morning she wakes up not remembering who she is.
"She wakes up every morning and her husband gives her this book that explains how the appliances work, the ground plan of the house, who her son is, and just all this stuff," said Susanna Morrow, professor of Drama and director of this production. "It's kind of a thriller. No one really knows what's going on."
"Fuddy Meers" also presents huge amounts of absurdity. The seven-person cast includes: more than a few escaped convicts, an old lady who recently had a stroke and can no longer pronounce words clearly, a son who constantly smokes marijuana, and Millet, a shy and gangly man with a profanity-spewing sock puppet named Hinky Binky.
Junior Ty Mylnar explained the unique challenges of playing a man and his sock puppet.
"I really had a lot of trouble getting Binky's lines down because when I was going through the script, I seriously remembered my lines and just thought that Binky would pick up his own."
With such a heavy contrast between Millet and Binky, the program jokingly credits two characters, assigning Mylnar to the role of Millet but Charles Mortimer Beauregard, IV, a fabricated alias, to Hinky Binky.
Reflecting on his work with Mylnar, Beauregard shared his experience in this production.
"I'm used to playing bigger parts in bigger productions, but this was a lot [of] fun," Beauregard said. "Except, sometimes Ty touched me inappropriately…"
Along with being mysterious and absurd, "Fuddy Meers" is also hilarious. Utilizing a variety of strange and awkward characters, the funniest lines emerge naturally under the precise timing and pace of a strong cast.
In fact, many aspects of "Fuddy Meers," including its title, hinge on mystery. Claire, the central character of the play, suffers from psychogenic amnesia, a condition in which every morning she wakes up not remembering who she is.
"She wakes up every morning and her husband gives her this book that explains how the appliances work, the ground plan of the house, who her son is, and just all this stuff," said Susanna Morrow, professor of Drama and director of this production. "It's kind of a thriller. No one really knows what's going on."
"Fuddy Meers" also presents huge amounts of absurdity. The seven-person cast includes: more than a few escaped convicts, an old lady who recently had a stroke and can no longer pronounce words clearly, a son who constantly smokes marijuana, and Millet, a shy and gangly man with a profanity-spewing sock puppet named Hinky Binky.
Junior Ty Mylnar explained the unique challenges of playing a man and his sock puppet.
"I really had a lot of trouble getting Binky's lines down because when I was going through the script, I seriously remembered my lines and just thought that Binky would pick up his own."
With such a heavy contrast between Millet and Binky, the program jokingly credits two characters, assigning Mylnar to the role of Millet but Charles Mortimer Beauregard, IV, a fabricated alias, to Hinky Binky.
Reflecting on his work with Mylnar, Beauregard shared his experience in this production.
"I'm used to playing bigger parts in bigger productions, but this was a lot [of] fun," Beauregard said. "Except, sometimes Ty touched me inappropriately…"
Along with being mysterious and absurd, "Fuddy Meers" is also hilarious. Utilizing a variety of strange and awkward characters, the funniest lines emerge naturally under the precise timing and pace of a strong cast.
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