Wyn Caudle
A&E Editor
This past weekend The College of Wooster Department of theatre and dance showcased “Boeing Boeing” by Marc Camoletti, directed by Shirley Huston-Findley. The show ran for about two and a half hours, starting at roughly 7:30 p.m. each night and ending around 10 p.m. It has one fifteen-minute intermission in the middle of the show.
The show has six characters: Bernard, Robert, Bertha, Gabriella, Gloria and Gretchen. Thecomedic storyline follows Bernard, played by Jayden Sloan ’28, as he hosts his visiting friend Robert (Tyler Buchanan ’27) while his three flight attendant fiancees (each of whom thinks she is the only woman in his life) are all in his small home in Paris. The play is a French comedy piece, an apparent element throughout the performance.
As the lights dimmed and the actors took the stage, it was clear that many hours had been spent on the performance. Cam Love ’25 brought to life Bertha, Bernard’s maid, and her humorous role in maintaining the house for the in-and-out flow of guests. I found myself laughing with the rest of the audience at the antics from the stage. The first of Bernard’s fiancees that the audience meets is the witty Gloria, (played by Kaniya Page ’28) an American who works for Trans World Airlines (TWA) and has a strong Brooklyn accent. She is present at the beginning and end of the story. Even though Gloria is one of Bernard’s fiancees, Robert finds himself romantically interested in her. Rather than get involved in the complicated love pentagon within the play, Gloria chooses to leave Bernard for her other boyfriend who she met in Mexico. Gabriella is the second fiancee met by the audience, a cheerful and passionate young woman played by Ellie Wright ’28. Gabriella flies for Alitalia, an Italian airline, and is Bernard’s favorite fiancee — as illustrated by Gabriella spending most of her stage time with him. The final fiancee, Gretchen, has a feisty personality and was played by Shannon Dunning ’27. Gretchen is a German stewardess for Lufthansa and spends the majority of her stage time in conversations and interactions with Robert.
As the characters moved around on and off stage trying to both avoid and find each other through actions reminiscent of a cartoon chase, I found myself wondering how the play would end.
It is important to note that the depiction of the stewardesses and Bertha are quite misogynistic. The women’s roles within the play fall into gender-stereotypical behaviors; however, the College’s theatre and dance department took measures to preserve the play’s humor while also being acutely aware of the issues surrounding it. This included, within the audition process, making it clear that anyone could audition for any role no matter their gender, as well as attempting to take a more feminist approach to the script.
Everything comes to a close with Bernard (whose infidelity is never discovered by any of his three fiancees) deciding to commit himself entirely to Gabriela, while Robert gets engaged to Gretchen. I found myself breathing a sigh of relief that everything worked out. Throughout the play, I was awed by the performance and the care the actors and tech crew spent on it, which was displayed in the vibrant portrayals of the characters. Overall “Boeing Boeing” was a fun play to watch with the actors and crew bringing the audience into the comedic and complicated situation Robert and Bernard find themselves in.