Every year our drama class collaborates on the production of a show. This year we’re thrilled to be staging three one-act-plays: Charlie by Slawomir Mrozek, The Still Alarm by George S. Kaufman, and The Zoo Story by Edward Albee. Together these are funny plays that explore the ephemerality of life, our obligations to others, and the importance of being attentive to the world around us.
George S. Kaufman wrote The Still Alarm in 1925. It is an oddly prescient piece which the class has likened to a popular meme of a cartoon dog sitting complacently in a room on fire. In it, two businessmen are concluding a visit at a hotel when the bellboy arrives to announce that the hotel has erupted in flame. Rather than run to the nearest exit, they take the news in stride and continue to languish in the room. They note coolly that the floor is alarmingly warm and that a crowd has gathered outside the building. When the firemen arrive, the businessmen continue on as though they were hosting visitors. As flames consume the room, one of the firemen pulls out a violin and plays a tune while the play ends.
Charlie was written in 1978 by Polish playwright Slawomir Mrozek. At the time of its writing, Poland was still behind the iron curtain; there is considerable evidence that Mrozek hid pointed critiques of his government in his surrealist and sometimes grotesque plays. Charlie is no different. In it, we see a young man bringing his grandfather to see an optometrist. Grandpa is on a mission to shoot a person called Charlie and needs new glasses so that he can identify his enemy. As the play progresses we discover that Charlie can be just about anyone, and Grandpa–freshly equipped with glasses–is quick to label the optometrist as his target. Fearing for his life, the optometrist hastily finds a new Charlie to place in front of Grandpa’s gun. His target dispatched, Grandpa and his Grandson leave the office but promise to come back the following day to shoot again. In its dark humour this text questions where the line is drawn between the individual and the ‘common good,’ while demonstrating how fanaticism slips easily into repression and terrorism.
The Zoo Story is Edward Albee’s first play. It was written in 1958 and is still regularly produced. The play tells the story of two men who meet on a bench in New York City’s Central Park. Peter is a businessman with a family and nice home, and Jerry is a drifter who is desperate for a meaningful conversation. Through a series of provocations, Jerry gets Peter talking about life and its value and manages to shake Peter out of his complacency with a surprise twist ending.
We hope that you’ll join us the evening of May 19th at the Palmerston Library Theatre to see the fruits of all our hard work! Please be in touch with the school for details about tickets.
The Abelard School 
