By Katlynn Mullins
Have you ever thought of the world ending and being saved by an almighty alligator? Apparently, it’s crossed Matt Cowley’s mind.
“Death and Other Errors in Judgement,” written by Cowley, a writer and sound designer, was brought to the campus’ inaugural Short and Sweet Theatre Week on April 9.
The collaboration lounge in Lynn Pippinger Hall was filled, extra seats needed to be added and latecomers sat on the concrete steps. Cowley is a local and does similar work with Studio@620 for the Radio Theatre Project.
The play began with a mother and daughter in a taxi. The mother, a member of a cult whose deity is an alligator, was attempting to save herself from the end of the world — in less than 10 minutes.
The driver had once studied physics but turned her attention to evolution. Why? To decide whether humans are “moving forward or backward.” The results: “Unclear.”
The remaining four scenes explored similar absurdities.
A therapist with problems of her own gained solace with the help of her patient. Guiding her blindly around the stage, the patient somehow ended up in the therapist’s seat by the end of the scene.
A slasher went on a blind date with Death. Can you guess what became of the friend that set them up?
Star-crossed lovers were seen together but could never end up that way. A man had left his laptop at the airport to chase down a girl he had once thought he didn’t want. The couple kissed, accompanied by a buzzing sound indicating some sort of spark, but not of recognition. The roles were being reversed.
The play ends with a woman trying to rob her rich boyfriend, Richie, with the help of a distant family member and another potential crony. All three were trying to bamboozle the other. A hesitant young woman was convinced the other was the devil. The scene ended with the young woman on the phone with Richie saying, “I don’t think we’ve ever caught two demons in one night.”
Cowley spent the entirety of the show behind the audience in a makeshift sound booth. He brought Foley to what would have been silence, like the orchestra at a Broadway show. Cars passed by in the taxi, doors shut behind characters as they walked off stage.
Quiet, but heard above all else, it added life to a play filled with death and unfinished scenarios, though the audience spent the entire time laughing.
