“Third” does not refer to the measurement, the place or the musical note. “Third” is the title of the recent NIC Theater Department production and its resilient protagonist, Woodson Bull III.
“Third” was presented in Schuler Performing Arts Center Feb. 16-18 and 23-25. Production began Jan. 9, the day students returned from winter break and featured a five-person cast consisting of NIC students, faculty and community members.
One impressed audience member coined the term “a touch of Todd” to refer to experienced guest director Todd Jasmin’s creative set design.
Patrons were encouraged to arrive at 7:30 “sharp,” lest they lose a seat. One reason for the punctual show time was because there was free admission and unassigned seating, but the real surprise was yet to come. Jasmin and his stage crew created a makeshift classroom on stage, complete with the typical school-house-style chairs with desks attached. The “classroom” had about a 120-seat capacity.
“He [Jasmin] came up with the idea and he brought it to us,” said assistant stage manager Sarah Welker, 18, theater, Priest River. “I thought he was just crazy, but then I started building it and I started to see it. Then I was like ‘Oh, you’re a genius.’”
The result was an intimate and interactive atmosphere for both actors and audience, which was reinforced by Patty Baker, house manager of Schuler, as she handed out syllabus-style programs before the show.
“I really enjoyed working on ‘Third,’” Welker said. “It was not one of the normal plays that I usually work on. I usually work on a lot of comedies and older plays. This was very modern and very relatable. It was really unique.”
The premier of “Third” featured a nearly fully attended “classroom.” The opening night nervousness was expected, especially because of the close proximity of the audience, which spared no detail or slip-up from the performance.
“I’m so glad opening night is over,” said Trigger Weddle, 52, an NIC adjunct theater instructor, who played the antagonist Dr. Laurie Jameson. “After intermission I was like ‘are people going to come back?’ But everyone did.”
“Third” presents what often happens when people become too attached to ideology, whether it is liberal or conservative, and how it can hinder one’s understanding of a situation or issue. The show was recommended for mature audiences only due to strong language and profanity. Many of the common curse words were used, but what elicited the most audible gasp out of audience members was the use of the C-word by Third (Gustave Lester, NIC student) when referring to Jameson.
“I am a little uncomfortable with the play promoting the stereotype of the ‘liberal’ college professor,” said Joe Jacoby, NIC Theater instructor. “But it seems OK for us to do plays that make me uncomfortable. It’s an interesting play and it seems appropriate to discuss the issues it raises on a college campus.”
“Third” is set at an elite New England liberal arts college. Laurie Jameson is the prestigious instructor of a feminism literary critique course in which the main focus of the class is to explore Shakespeare’s play “King Lear.” At the very beginning of the course, Jameson tells students to not be afraid to “speak up” or “challenge” her. The sincerity of this statement soon wears away after meeting Third.
Third is a chipper, preppy wrestler. Jameson immediately pegs him as a jock from a rich Republican family. She resents him because she believes Third will someday be in a position of power simply because he is white, male and privileged. Although Third is sincerely polite and even sweet to Jameson, because of these assumptions about his character and background, her respect for him is nil.
Her feelings go from distaste to an icy rage when the class turns in a critique of “King Lear” and Third’s assessment is not only good, it is outstanding. She refuses to believe that Third wrote the paper and puts him on academic trial for plagiarism. No matter how much Third, and even Jameson’s friend and coworker Dr. Nancy Gordon (Kathie O’Brien, NIC business instructor) plead with her, she will not accept that Third could write such a brilliant analysis of “King Lear.”
“I think this [play] is very good and thought provoking,” said Adam Reed, 23, radiography technician, Priest River. “I think Jameson definitely has a vendetta against Bull [Third] because of personal reasons.”
Jameson’s socio-economic stereotyping of Third turns out to be tragically false. He is not a Republican meathead raised with a silver spoon in his mouth. Third is actually “on the fence” when it comes to politics and his dad is a small claims lawyer in Ohio. Jameson’s personal tirade against Third nearly ruins his life because her accusation causes him lose a sorely needed scholarship.
Contemporary music from artists such as The White Stripes and Nirvana punctuated the dark as the stage crew rearranged the set between scenes. Many of the scenes go from the school setting in which Jameson is displayed as smug and haughty, to home scenes in which Jameson’s more vulnerable sides are shown.
At home Jameson must cope with her beloved father Jack Jameson (Chris LeBlanc, NIC student) who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, while also dealing with her inquisitive daughter Emily Jameson (Alyssa Maurer, community member) and the onslaught of war after the 9/11 attacks. She is constantly fretting over her daughter and father, or glued to the 24-hour news channel.
“I enjoyed the play thoroughly,” said Aimee Clark, 23, art history, France. “I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality of the performance and I am not afraid to say that there was a scene that made me cry-the one where the father with Alzheimer is dancing with his daughter. It would be so hard to slowly realize you’re losing your consciousness.”
“Third” was written by one of America’s great contemporary playwrights, Wendy Wasserstein. In “Third,” Wasserstein uses the school environment as a mirror to the real world. The play is purposely set in 2001-2002 in order to reflect the polarizing attitudes between liberals and conservatives that emerged during the Bush administration and which were expressed in the rocky relationship between Jameson and Third.
“The political aspect of it [the play] was interesting,” Clark said. “I like Third’s view on a liberal college as being too liberal. People are so extreme in their views, they don’t realize the ridiculousness of it.”
Wasserstein wrote numerous plays, including “The Heidi Chronicles,” which won a Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize. She also wrote the screenplay for the 1998 film “The Object of my Affection,” starring Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd. “Third” was Wasserstein’s last play before she died of cancer in 2005.
