Cultural Blog: The Rude Mechanicals Medieval Renaissance Farce and Student Play

I hadn't laughed so hard since I've went and saw the Rude Mechanicals Medieval Farces and student written play. The night that I attended, the Rudes performed Eighteen and Green, by Stephen Viau, a student play and then Confession Lessons and Monk-ey Business, two farces.

I wasn't sure what to expect at first with these plays, but the first that I saw was Eighteen and Green, an alien love story, about an alien Kirkland, who crashes his spaceship on planet Earth and falls in love with a high school teenager.  The performance was definitely the Rudes' comedy at its best, complete with funny antics and a crazy cast of characters including a pair of bumbling detectives (one that may be an alien himself! and some really well done stereotypes, the overbearing mother, the dramatic teen, the lonely neighbor) that reminds us not to take the plot so seriously. It takes an even funnier and drastic  tone when the main character gets pregnant just by kissing the alien, in which hilarity ensues, but eventually leads tot heir happy ending.  At times, I admit there was so much going on that it overwhelming at some bits, but still had me trying to catch my breath and covering my mouth from laughing so hard.


After the student production, the Rudes performed the bawdy modern translations of two medieval farces, another hysterical interpretation of old comedy. It was proof that comedy and satire and their sometimes raucous and sexual themes still appeal and entertain us. In Confession Lessons, we are able to see the satire of the corruption of the church and the treatment of women, and even though many of the themes don't directly correlate to our world today, the situations are still universal enough to an audience 500-600 years after its prime. There were many outrageous scenes that I never expected, and couple of shocking, albeit laugh out loud moments that showed the prowess of these actors.
After Confession Lessons, Monk-ey Business showed what can happen with a little spite and a whole lot of alcohol. It still proves that no matter what era it is, drunken hijinks always are a fun spectacle to watch.

Though the show was long, it was definitely worth seeing, and came just at the right time to relieve a little bit of end of the semester stress.