The cast of Randi & Roxanne salutes the crew.

Hollins Flexes Its Theatrical Muscles Again

With Rachel Graf Evans' "Randi & Roxanne," which finished a brief run Sunday in Hollins' Winter Festival of New Works, the university continues to hold its ground as, not only the place to learn theatre, but also one of the better theatrical experiences in the region.

The award-winning Evans, who holds a Hollins master's degree in fine arts, handed director Sophia Menconi, a freelance director from D.C., a complex, often-difficult, sometimes touching, occasionally hilarious script to be produced with student actors. And it turned out beautifully. Every aspect--from the burgundy clothing, to the finely-tuned lighting, to the backstage crew, to the marvelous acting--worked beautifully, professionally. 

The play, something of a Cyrano de Bergerac derivative at its core, actually has three plotlines: a confused love story, a story of sports competition and a story of internal news ambition. Suffice it to say they overlap and dovetail conveniently in the end, but along the way, we were treated to some first-class acting and interpretation of the writer's intent. Standing out in a big cast were the non-stop-talking Sadie McGuire, the flexible and very funny El Rowland and the hateful Elani Spencer. Each played her part to the maximum and they supported the primary love story, the softball story and the newspaper line, which might have been diminished without them. 

Hollins is ranked high among colleges/universities in the U.S. with its theatre arts department and this show gives you an inside glance of just why. And if you're wondering why my grandgirl wants to eventually wind up at Hollins studying theatre, this play and next week's "Chrysallis," written by Roanoker and Hollins master's grad Gwenyth Strope will leave you with no questions at all.