“Idiot’s Delight” provided the comedic twist everyone hoped it would give in it’s opening night on Oct. 9.
“We have been practicing the weekend before school started,” said cast member Stephen Torrey, who played the social manager of the hotel. “So about six-to-eight weeks now. I really hope the audience can translate the play into today’s political role and how society is today.”
In the adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning film by Robert E. Sherwood, “Idiot’s Delight” centered on the beginnings of WWII era. Borders were closing and travel began to get harder, therefore the characters were caught stuck in an Alpine hotel lounge at the peak of a mountain, not really knowing what to make out of the situation.
Harry Van is touring Europe and finds himself with his musical duet in an unfortunate place. There’s also a German doctor, a French pacifist, an English honeymoon couple and an Italian officer all rooming in the hotel.
The first half of the play showed how everyone tried to settle in and get comfortable in the hotel. Having different personalities from different countries resulted in an uneasy room. Although the characters coming in and out of the hotel lounge mentioned that war was about to initiate, others didn’t believe it or didn’t bother to put any interest in the topic because they believed they were safe where they were.
The second half of the show sparked a musical into the narrative of the play. One of the men at the hotel room who was accompanied by his dancers suggested they’d do a show for everyone to ease the tension around the house. While half-way through the show, Quillery, the only one in the house who spoke up about what was really going on in the war, interrupted, and as a result was murdered.
“I think it really displays the level of ignorance that exists in a time of a crisis,” said 25-year-old kinesiology student Lisa Boa. “It is emotional and passionate but still humorous. I think we do that as people today, we either ignore the crisis or laugh it off.”
The show ended on a romantic note, with two characters falling in love and entering a relationship. Just when war begins, one character returns from having been on the bus ready to transport to Switzerland and returns to the hotel to stay alone in with their loved one just as WWII begins outside the hotel room.
“I liked all the different emotions,” said 25-year-old psychology student Amal Aldhulay. “My favorite character is Irene. She’s really good with transitions from Russian to English and her different emotions.”
