Poking fun at the quirks of writers and the English language, Words, Words, Words and How to Use Them to Write Good, Part II: Writing Even Gooder, brought the Anathan Theatre stage alive with gentle humor and song in early November.
Creator of this “comic compilation with music” Dr. Monica Anderson directed an earlier, shorter version in 2001. When Cat (Egan ’01) Hodge, a cast member in and set designer for the first Words production, learned the production was being reprised, she organized a reunion that brought in half a dozen fellow alumni for the November 11 performance.
Cat and Brendan ’01 Hodge had an added incentive to attend: Their daughter, junior theatre major Eleanor Hodge, was a cast member.
Cat had this to say about the new production:
“It was a fascinating experience, watching Words for the first time in 21 years. I was delighted to discover how much of the script I remembered and to see the kids up there having as much fun under Dr. Anderson’s direction now as we had two decades ago. (Dr. Anderson, of course, has not aged a day since then.) It was surreal to come full circle and see my daughter now in the last show I performed on the Anathan stage, but I’m glad to report that the Drama Program still fosters the scrappy, can-do attitude that has served me well in my subsequent theater experience. It’s inspiring to see what theatrical magic a small, determined group of students and teachers can create with the limited resources that have always been a hallmark of the theater experience at Franciscan.”
Director Dr. Monica Anderson and the full cast with the five alumni who returned to see the reprised show: Brendan ’01 and Cat (Egan ’01) Hodge, Christina LaRosa ’04, Lisa Chmielecki Millin ’01, and Dr. Kevin Graves ’01.
