During the week of November 12^th, the Stockton College Experimental Theater was transformed into a dilapidated apartment featuring a dusty living room, a horribly messy child’s bedroom, as well as another living room infested with cat toys and tuna cans.  The School of Arts and Humanities Theater program presented Crumble (Lay Me Down Justin Timberlake) from Wednesday, November 12^th through Sunday, November 16^th.  The play, written by Sheila Callaghan, was directed, designed, and performed entirely by Stockton students under the supervision and production of Pamela Hendrick and Mark Mallett.  It took place in the Experimental Theater beneath the Performing Arts Center, encompassing the audience in the midst of a grieving family’s Christmas.

The play, directed by senior theater major Kate Sparacio, featured five cast members who played anything but a happy family.  A year following the tragic death of Father, Mother (played by senior Nicole Clark) is having severe anxiety in raising their eleven year old daughter Janice (sophomore Madelaine Welch).  Mother reaches out to her excitable sister Barbara (freshman Phoebe Gruetter) for help, but Barbara falls short in her abilities to truly understand Janice.  In their mourning of Father, Mother and Janice each fantasize about prominent male figures in their lives: for Mother, he is Harrison Ford, and for pre-teen Janice, he is pop star Justin Timberlake.  All three male figures are played by senior John Wisienski.  While the emotional distress eats at both mother and daughter, the Apartment (played by junior Evan Williamson) is personified and, falling apart both physically and emotionally, plots the death of the negligent family.  The show is characterized by extremely dark humor and sexual overtones, as well as the underlying message about the importance of family and the grieving process.

Welch, Clark, Gruetter, Wisienski and Williamson all did a fantastic job in bringing their characters to life.  I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and I applaud Kate Sparacio in her ability to envision Crumble (Lay Me Down Justin Timberlake) and then organize such a highly effective team to bring across a difficult message.  The School of Arts and Humanities Theater Program spares no expense in producing high quality shows, and I will definitely be attending future productions.