Watching 'As Is' become 'As Was'

Being an editor of Loquitur, I am usually the one who is asking the questions. On Nov. 7, 1 found myself on the receiving end, with people asking me why the fall theater production of William Hoffman's "As Is" was cancelled. Having received this news only eight hours before I stepped onto campus that Thursday, it was tough to provide answers when you do not know yourself what the hell is going on.

Having two small roles, as well as being the assistant director of the show, I can only provide my insights into this short-lived experience.

Having the assistant director's position allowed me to observe the progression of production as a whole without having to focus all of my attention into finding the essence of a character. The first thing to come to my attention was the failure to cast the entire list of characters at the end of auditions. I thought it would be only a matter of days until we found people to play the parts. After several weeks we managed to fill the role of "Chet," who was a lover of one of the leads who eventually died. A lacrosse player ultimately accepted this role (How's that for breaking down a Cabrini stereotype.) However several other small roles, some involving only two or three lines, had yet to be filled. All but one of these roles were filled by having existing actors and actresses on the production, including myself, double-up on roles. This happened only after our attempts to fill the roles with off-campus actors went unsuccessfully.

Personally, this did not sit well with me. I mentioned in a meeting back when we ·still bad several roles to fill that if we could not put on a show, especially this one, consisting entirely of Cabrini students, then we should not continue for I saw it as a sjgn that the campus as a whole was not ready to deal with the topics of AIDS and homosexuality. Nevertheless we pursued production. Each week I had the pleasure of watching actors Billy Myers and Anthony Sanfillippo discover new methods to the character's madness.

If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that the backbone of the show, consisting of these two men, would remain intact with two powerful perfonnances full of passion and conviction. Despite watching these two actors progress, I knew in the back of my mind that I had not seen at least three other important actors and actresses rehearse with the rest of the company. It also bothered me a great deal that it was days from the start of "hell week" and I bad not seen these people or their characters since the night of auditions.

Despite my concerns and second-guessing, I was optimistic that we could pull everything off in the end- "Hell week" would live up to its name. However as of Nov. 6, we still had one role to fill. The male actor in it would be on stage no more than three minutes. His character would have to say to the gay lead that he liked him and that he wanted to go home with him. This role would remain vacant.

In my eyes, this was the straw that broke the camel's back. Last Wednesday, I talked briefly with theater director Neal Newman as he was adjusting stage lights in preparation for a run-through. Hours later I received a phone call from someone not associated with the production saying that the show had been cancelled.

At first I took the news as a sigh of relief. Then again, if you had several papers to do as well as make up overdue work, you probably would too. However as the weekend passed, the news of the cancellation hit me like that of the death of a friend-you remain in shock for a while until a few days later when you realize what the person meant to you. I do not know if the show would have been perfect, for I question the amount of ingenuity and enthusiasm on the

by Paul Monte news editor

part of everyone associated with the show, yet I can say that this campus would have been better off as a result of it being done.

"As Is" is a story that uses AIDS and homosexuality as catalysts for the plea of tolerance as well as to say that people must not be afraid to rely on others when facing the unknown.

Cabrini College theater is more than entertainment, it is a community service. We pride ourselves on producing plays that go beyond the conventional and make the audience think long after the curtain has come down. Hopefully you realize why Neal considen. productions such as "Grease" and "West Side Story" as high school plays.

"As Is" was intended to be a challenge for both its actors as well as for its audience to see. I never thought that at Cabrini it would remain that way. Neal Newman tried to make a difference. He tried to practice what this institution preaches. For that, he, along with the rest of the cast and crew, has my utmost respect. Why did we have to look beyond Cabrini students to produce this play? It is for this reason that I blame the Cabrini College community for the cancellation of ''As Is." Can we call ourselves liberally educated, since its qualities include open-mindedness, compassion and community? How can we begin to challenge fixed ideas when a play such as "As Is" is cancelled due to an apparent lack of interest.

Would I be outofline in saying that most of Cabrini's community is homophobic? This week my friends and I could be performing in the hope of raising awareness, breaking stereotypes and making our community a more tolerable place. Inste.ad we will be at home wondering "What if?" To me wondering what could have been for the rest of my life is a curse. In my mind letting something be a regret is worse than it being a failure.