By Aaron Calvin, Assistant Entertainment Editor
The first event in The Department of Drama and Dance's fall lineup turned out to be a thoughtful presentation of a play it seems everyone had forgotten. In the director's note, it stated that the department's production of "Intimations for Saxophone" is only the second production of the play, which was written in 1934 by Sophie Treadwell. Largely due to the economic standing of the time, the play was never produced until recently.
Now, a play written just over seventy-five-years ago could easily come off feeling dated and worn out. "Intimations for Saxophone" evades this trap because it addresses themes that still plague our society today, such modern ailments as being able to choose too much and feeling too isolated. Treadwell's feminist leanings allow for a modern plot set to well executed expressionism.
The play revolves around the isolated and desperate heroine Lily Lethe, played in a tastefully emotive fashion by Kristin Nemecek. The play begins finding said heroine entering a hapless union with the mawkish, momma's-boy Gilly Lethe, played in an appropriately straightforward manner by Michael Guess. Joining the two main characters is an ensemble of masked characters, flitting through a myriad of roles as the surrounding cast of similarly problem ridden people that the Lethes spend their time with. The versatility of the ensemble actors is one of the high points of the show.
The plot of this play is fairly straightforward: a woman enters into an unhappy marriage with a man who doesn't really know how to love anyone but his mother. She then makes a series of choices in order to escape the mundanity of her everyday life that only exacerbate her problems.
A fair warning to everyone interested in seeing this play: as much as I would recommend going to see it (especially Hofstra students, since it's free), the play incorporates many expressionist elements, such as the masked ensemble personifying Lily's troubles. This type of play is very interesting and the director, Peter Sander, deserves recognition for pulling it off fairly well. But to many people it can be weird and confusing. I would advise considering this before attending.
Warnings of taste aside, "Intimations for Saxophone" is well done and worth a few hours of a cold Sunday afternoon.