If there’s anything that makes an intolerable situation more tolerable, it’s the knowledge that it will soon be over. But what if people got stuck in an intolerable situation in a small space for three full days?
“A Delightful Quarantine,” the spring play at West Leyden High School, explores just that. It starts with seven mostly familiar scenarios, but then pushes beyond the usual quick resolutions by keeping the protagonists together.
During an invasion of outer space aliens, seven families and visitors in a Pennsylvania suburb are abruptly quarantined in their homes. In one situation, a man on a first date finds he’s with a crazy cat lady and wants to get out. In another, two older ladies are being robbed and have to spend three days stuck with the robber. In a third situation, a young woman who lives with her brother informs him she has contracted the same type of cancer as their mother and wants him — a confirmed atheist — to pray for her.
“He’s an atheist, he smokes pot, he’s well-meaning but kind of narcissistic,” said senior Jack Barshop, who plays the role of Dean, the brother.
On stage there are seven different islands of furniture at different heights, each representing a different household and scenario. The lights go up on one household for a scene, then down when the scene is over. There is sporadic interaction between houses, such as an occasional phone call, but mostly the seven groups are on their own.
Framing the plots is a narrator played by freshman Amy Nicholson, a professor who is giving a lecture to the audience on the impacts of a three-day quarantine.
“It’s quite a change from [my last play], ‘Annie,'” said Nicholson. “This is more laid back and I’m able to have more fun with it. I can interact with the audience like they were my actual students.”
“It’s a goofy little show,” said Bill Mitchell, director. “I happened to see it and like it. Our kids are anxious to show off their comic acting chops. We spent three days auditioning to make sure the kids have comic timing.”
“A Delightful Quarantine” will be preceded by “Poemes de Amor,” or “Poems of Love,” by Teatro Leyden, which is a collection of poems by Pablo Neruda.
Performances are scheduled for May 1, 2, 8 and 9 at 7 p.m. at West Leyden High School, 1000 N. Wolf Road, Northlake. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for students.