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Entering Matthew’s Mug in the afternoon was a strange experience. Where was Betty? Where was that disgusting humidity usually felt while descending the stairs? The locale mostly associated with rubbing up against sweaty strangers shed its perspiratory reputation to serve as a surprisingly tame theatrical venue.
Although the Mug may have been a mild setting, “Brides of the Moon” by no means merits a similar description. Theatrical conventions were chewed, swallowed and spit out with Woodshed’s uproarious production of “Brides of the Moon,” a comedy written by avant-garde playwrights The Five Lesbian Brothers. The play follows four astronauts (and their monkey) as they embark on a copulation-focused mission, formally termed BJ-15, to a planet exclusively inhabited by men, hence the name “Brides of the Moon.” Their mission is inhibited by technical problems, and the only communication they are able to find is with a dysfunctional Midwestern family through their microwave. Hilarity ensues.
“Brides of the Moon” opened, true to its otherworldly plot, with a blast off. Once the astronaut crew reached its zero gravity locale, the stage was basked in an eerie glow, which Woodshed member Gabby Gottlieb ’12 enthusiastically described as “space lights.” With these lights, blue space suit uniforms, and chick rock musical interludes, Woodshed created an atmosphere perfectly suited for the play’s eccentric content.
One of the more hilarious theater pieces in Vassar’s recent dramatic history, “Brides of the Moon”’s greatest success lay, for the most part, with the brilliance of its actors.
Kate Thulin ’11 stole the show in her roles as both the thickly accented Russian astronaut Slotya Rimjobavich (yes, Rim-job-a-vich, a pronunciation whose undertones come to light throughout the performance) and the 31-year-old astronaut wannabe who still lives with her parents, Carmen Powers. Thulin goes from character to character with effortless grace, a nod to her sheer strength as a performer. The audience laughed with Thulin’s every move, especially those in which Rimjobavich actively pursued the play’s additional three astronauts, played by Gabby Gottlieb ’12, Baize Buzan ’10 and Nijae Draine ’11, and even the spaceship’s monkey, Didi, as played by Hannah Gold ’10.
Typical to Woodshed’s repertoire, there was no hiding the sex. The audience saw bras, moaning, unzipped space suits and a considerable amount of touching. While at times uncomfortable, Woodshed’s no-nonsense, or maybe all-nonsense, approach to sex brought the group’s fervant fearlessness to the forefront of the production.
All of the actresses threw themselves into their roles (and at each other), achieving a final product that continuity surprised, considering the plot’s obvious potential for disjointedness. While the production lacked the polish of most of Woodshed’s past work, this roughness—accompanied by the locale—acted as a comfortable niche for the lesbian sex romp that dominated the play’s storyline. “Brides of the Moon” was so funny, so absurd, that this lack of finesse was a trivial matter in the audience’s overall perception. Woodshed succeeded again with this hilarious commentary on love, sexuality, growing up and familial relationships.
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