Witty puns, slapstick comedy featured in LCC One Act play

LAUREL — Reggan Kuhlman loves to perform and loves to make people laugh.

The Laurel-Concord-Coleridge senior will do both as she takes on the lead role in the school’s one-act play “Mmmbeth.”

“He is quite dominant throughout the play, except when it comes to his wife, Lady Mmmbeth,” she says of her character. “He’s also not the sharpest tool in the shed, but that’s also what makes him such a lovable character. Aside from that, Mmmbeth is a very emotional guy as well.”

“Mmmbeth,” by Allison Williams is billed as a hilarious gender-bending take on the Scottish play. According to the play’s description: Everything goes wrong. The witches take over the storytelling, Queen Duncan would rather open a donut franchise than die, Lady M’s a bloodthirsty June Cleaver and the murderers are preoccupied with creating a commercial for their services.

Kuhlman said she feels free to express her own ideas and she’s enjoyed seeing some of them implemented in the production.

“It’s a great feeling to know that your input is valued,” she said.

The total number of characters, gender roles and the fact that the play is hilarious made it a winner and obvious pick for One-Act Coach Jennifer Kesting.

“We only have three male members of the cast,” she said. “We graduated a large chunk of actors last year and are working to encourage others to try one-act.”

The play contains a witty humor that the audience will enjoy, Kuhlman said, full of slapstick nature and puns, Kesting added.

“Everyone loves comedies, but seeing everything come to life is just a whole different experience,” Kuhlman said. “It also helps that our audience at home knows who most of us are, so seeing us all in a different light will be interesting, I think.”

Kesting leads the team of 18 cast and eight crew alongside Sarah Beckwith. In her fourth year, Kesting said seeing students develop as performers and gain confidence is her favorite part of being the one-act coach.

A public performance has been scheduled for 7:30 p.m., Monday, Nov. 22, and students are also looking forward to taking the play into competition.

“I have very high hopes for this group,” Kuhlman said. “It’s hard to tell exactly how well we will do this season, but we have so much potential, and I can’t wait to see what we’ll bring to the table.”