Brooklyn school theatre programs have been putting on some interesting works this fall, spanning the gamut of theatrical composition and talent.

Last weekend, the Fort Hamilton High School theatre troupe performed Moliere’s Tartuffe, a comedy classic written in 1620. Faculty director William Coulter said, “In its day, this play caused quite a bit of controversy due to its commentary on man’s human obsession with lust, greed, pride and envy.�

This version, a more manageable 70 minutes as opposed to its original 3-hour plus, was perfect. Ft. Hamilton senior Michael Squitieri’s comic timing was excellent. The production was double-cast and had alternate players for each performance. Other standouts were Tyler Van Brussel as Orgon, Maria Lisakovich as Elmire and Corey Harkins as Damis.

Xaverian High School performed Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile in early November. This wonderful production revolves around the fictional meeting of Pablo Picasso (Fabrice Jean-Baptiste) and Albert Einstein (Steven Blandino) at a Paris bar called Lapin Agile (Nimble Rabbit), where they discuss the value of genius and talent at the dawn of the 20th century. It was written in 1993, had its beginnings at the famous Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago and continues to be a favorite of high schools, colleges, regional and community theatres across the country.

Kyle Brown, a Xaverian senior who portrayed Gaston, a regular at the Lapine Agile who pokes fun at Picasso’s ‘artistic inspirations’ and Einstein’s ‘genius,’ said of the play, “This was an unforgettable experience. It’s such a clever comedy and I believe most of the viewers enjoyed the performance.� Most did, thanks to the chemistry of the cast.

St. Joseph’s College, in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn, performed Arthur Miller’s The Crucible during the second week of November. The play, which deals with the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 Massachusetts, featured Xaverian alum Daniel Velez as Reverend John Hale, the self-claimed expert in occult phenomena. This piece was originally written as a direct response to the McCarthy hearings of 1952 by U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy; today, it is studied by high schools and universities as a revolutionary work of theatre.

Bishop Kearney presented Flapper, a musical comedy centering on a ‘madcap flapper’ named Polly (played by Kearney senior Christina Del Sorbo) from the 1920s. She is infatuated with Buck, the young Texan fly boy, played by Xaverian’s Aiden Folan. The production was directed by Mary Greene (who also music directed), choreographed by Kathy Valentine and James Martinelli. Folan, a junior, thanked the Kearney Players for “making this play ‘the swellest’ it could possibly be.�

Poly Prep’s take on Shakespeare’s The Tempest was quite fascinating. Faculty director Sonya Baehr said, “For some inexplicable reason it seems to be the show of the year! It was done this fall by a professional company outdoors at Coney Island, it is being done by the Packer School, and it will be performed at BAM this spring by a British company.�

The Tempest examines the colonization of the ‘NewWorld’ by Europeans from the ‘Old World,’ and the tensions that result when one culture sees itself as inherently superior to others. Prospero, portrayed by Poly senior Pablo Grillo, can be seen as both a loving father and a domineering tyrant, as he struggles to construct a better world for his daughter than the one he left behind.

Says Baehr, “To give the audience a sense of the strangeness and mystery that Prospero’s island must have presented to the Europeans who landed on it, we decided to set the play on the island of Bali.� Baehr arranged for an authentic Balinese dancer to work with the cast who used Balinese masks from her personal collection.

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