“Really Really”- A Black Box Show

The cast of “Really Really” from left Abbie Wells, Jon Quigley, Jessica Dolan, Luke Zacharias, Nick Sanderson and Lizz Teater. Photo by Maggie Kretzmann

By: Maggie Kretzmann

Sexual assault happens on college campuses across the world far too often, and it usually ends the same way; the abuser doesn’t get punished, while the victim is blamed for what happened and gets nothing in return, especially if the abuser is a part of an athletic team. This topic isn’t talked nearly as much as it should be, and neither is the idea of what is considered “consensual” versus what is not. The play “Really Really” is centered around this same topic and shows what a college student’s life may be like. “I picked this show, because I can relate to what’s happening,” said Emily Walker, the director of the production. “The content isn’t something you see in a show everyday.”

Seven characters are followed throughout the play, beginning with two women returning from a party, and both of them are drunk. Leigh (played by Abbie Wells) is seen grimacing in pain as she leaves the room. In the second scene, Cooper (Nick Sanderson) and Johnson (Luke Zacharias) find out that”Good” Davis (Jon Quigley) finally got laid after breaking up with his longterm girlfriend, and the typical guy behavior of congratulating ensues. However, as the play goes on, it’s discovered that it may not have been consensual between Leigh and Davis, and the characters have to decide who’s right and who’s wrong. In the end, things aren’t the same as they were in the beginning.

“It’s really compelling as a story itself”, commented Lizz Teater, who played Jimmy, Leigh’s boyfriend. “My character hit home really, really hard. There was a lot of personal things I had to overcome in order to portray him, both with the most truth I could find onstage and without overstepping the line between the actor and the character. The challenge was good for me, as it was good personal growth and professional growth. I am so glad that I got casted as I what I did;… the challenge was amazing.”

In this show that ran Friday and Saturday, Oct. 21-22, friendships were broken, relationships became strained, and lives were ruined, which may seem dramatic until you realize that’s what it is like in real life for the victims of sexual assault. “It was very mind-boggling. One second I was thinking one thing, and the next I was thinking another. It was messing with my emotions a lot, and it was fun to watch the whole story,” said Brian Shariffi. It’s really important for students to be aware that sexual assault occurs all the time, and in order for this to not be an issue people need to start talking and know what’s right and what’s wrong.