Champlain College Presents HUMBLE BOY

Last night, I went to see Champlain College's production of Charlotte Jone's play Humble Boy directed by Joanne Farrell. Having stage managed a play for Champlain last year, I was prepared for a similar production. My friend Heather Lessard, also a Saint Michael's student, was stage managing this time.

When I walked into Alumni Auditorium, I was impressed by Jim Lantz's set. Unlike The Shape of Things, where we had boxes that changed placement and decorations between scenes to set up the scene, this outdoor garden didn't change at all, which, with Champlain's limited resources for producing plays, worked in their favor.

The play itself captivated me. Felix Humble returns home from Cambridge for his father's funeral and discovers less is left of their family than he ever imagined. He stays for the summer, despite a decaying relationship with his mother, trying to find the right words. In the meantime, another family interacts with Felix and his mother, forcing us to question the idea of family values. Joanne Farrell, the director, says: "Jones' dysfunctional family portrait entertains and horrifies us while making us think about life and death, grief, immortality, love, and forgiveness. I was fascinated by the theme of the senses, especially hearing, and how it relates to physics and bees and being in touch with the world around us. It was truly a touching play.

While I was a little disappointed to again see no students among the cast, the many aspects that go into creating a piece of theater were well-covered by student crew members, designers, graphic/photography people, and more. The cast is made up of local professionals, giving students a chance to network and to work with veterans in the field. Champlain College also does not offer a theater program, so students in the arts are focused on computer science, graphic design, and photography; the plays Joanne directs gives them a chance to use their skills outside of the classroom setting. There is little technical experience among many of the students, so it's good to see Saint Michael's theater students putting in the time and patience required to help produce quality theater. It is an opportunity for us as well.

Humble Boy closes tonight, 2/11/2012, with the performance starting at 8pm in Champlain College's Alumni Auditorium. I'll be keeping an eye out for Champlain's next production! It is again a tribute to living in such a great arts town that a college with no theater program, no majors, not even a real theater, can produce plays like this and introduce students and audience from different schools to this kind of theater.