Harlequins bring sex and vulgarity to stage

By Allison Kowalski
LIFESTYLES EDITOR

Photos courtesy of Krissi Schopfer Free Will and Wanton Lust was successfully performed by the Harlequins.

“Please note: This production of Free Will and Wanton Lust contains strong language, mature themes, sexual content and audience interaction,” the playbill read.   True to its word, the audience experienced everything down to sex sessions on a couch and lots of vulgar language.  However, the extreme mature nature of the play was played by convincing and talented actors and actresses in the Harlequins. 

The Harlequins are a student-run club that is sponsored and funded by the Brockport Student Government (BSG).   All five actors and actresses left their own impact on the audience.

Written by Nicky Silver and directed by Matthew J. Robinson, Free Will and Wanton Lust focuses how one night can change lives forever. Claire (Misty Stratton) is a wealthy woman who constantly takes lovers half her age.  She is not your average cooking-baking-take-the-kids-to-soccer mom; instead she places many expectations on her 20-year-old son Philip (Logan G. Spelvin) and loathes and ignores her 15-year-old daughter Amy (Kate Derry).   Philip was a wanted child, but Amy was a mistake.

However, both children are crazy for lack of or too much attention from Claire.  Amy has tendencies like her mother because she goes from man to man, but when she finally finds someone she loves, he breaks up with her and leaves her pregnant.  Desperately trying to get rid of her baby, Derry pops down shot after shot of alcohol and plays a cynical and sarcastic drunk. Though Derry’s character is complex and has abandoned-child syndrome, she completely transformed who she was supposed to be.

Philip literally looks like death because his face is ghost-white and he is always in black.   However, Spelvin delivers a powerful monologue in the second act when he confesses his lack of confidence in his sexual orientation and relationship.  He speaks with such intensity in his voice that his wild, angry tangents gave people goose bumps. 

While messing up her children, Claire acts like the world is her own movie and she is the director. She is constantly trying to control the lives of other people around her. She is always in denial.   Stratton plays multiple personalities with her character who at times calmly reminisces of her past, ignores her daughter or acts like a sexual tiger with her current lover Tony (Brandon Gary).   It is obvious that Stratton has a high amount of versatility because she was able to tackle the different personalities and sides of Claire.

On the other hand, Tony played the eye candy for the audience. Ugly before a tragic accident gave him the chance for plastic surgery, Tony is completely impulsive and definitely does not think with his head.  Gary offers little smirks and looks deeply into the eyes of other characters. He could make a person melt.   The highlight of Gary’s performance is being able to convince Philip’s fiancée, Vivian (Callie Jean Slusser) to have sex with him because she and Philip do not.

Vivian at first appears to be a prim and proper conservative woman, but deep down she is in need of sexual passion and freedom from her “secretary look.”   Slusser successfully manages to handle the duality of her character by acting like a priss one moment and a passionate woman the other.  

The whole family is tragic because of the lack of communication in the broken household.

 “Mothers and daughters have a special kind of non-verbal relationship,” Amy said.

The audience immediately feels sympathy for Philip and Amy because their mother messes them up from birth with her erotic and crazy ways.  Overall, all five cast members delivered powerful performances with powerful voices and impressive acting skills.  Free Will and Wanton Lust was a great success and it is amazing it was student-run and produced on such a professional level.