Lobby Hero a play by Kenneth Lonergan and produced and directed at Fieldston by Babe Howard is a splendid and intimate production allowing this excellent group of actors to shine in a remarkably engaging story.
Lobby Hero follows the adventures of a lazy, late night security guard named Jeff (played by Greg Pizzuro, IV) working at a highrise Manhattan apartment building, and his uptight, strict boss, Whitney (Sasha Hixson, VI). Jeff is an amusing and underachieving, yet endearing character. Despite Jeff’s somewhat irresponsible nature, Whitney, his hardworking supervisor, has a soft spot for him, and she begins to confide in him.
The plot intensifies when Dawn (Liv Weinstein, IV) and Bill (Will Conard, VI) make their entrance. Bill and Dawn are police officers, and Jeff has a crush on Dawn. We later learn that Bill, who is married, has been taking advantage of Dawn sexually and their relationship
explodes after Dawn learns that Bill is seeing a resident in the building.
Whitney, who is African American, learns that his brother has been arrested for killing a nurse. Whitney provides an alibi for his brother, but later confides to Jeff that she lied to the police. Jeff inadvertently shares this with Dawn, who notifies the police department. The play ends with Dawn and Jeff alone in the lobby, with Jeff making a gesture to comfort Dawn. Overall, the play touches on a number of current and important issues, including police brutality, sexism and harassment in the police department. Other important issues that this play tackles is poor legal representation of criminal defendants, and racially motivated actions and perceptions of criminals. The play helps us connect to our classes and various schoolwide discussions concerning these issues.
Babe Howard, (VI), the director of “ Lobby Hero,” said that he chose this play because “ Lobby Hero is remarkable for the way it engages with topics [that] a lot of popular art was shying away from during the early 2000s. It discusses race in a way that advances the plot
without derailing it, while also making us think outside the context of the story itself.”
The production seemed flawless, which may be surprising given the short amount of preparation time: “we were crazy rushed, and it took up a lot of time. Actors were running lines during lunch with the directors, and I was running around with props. It’s been a very busy month and a half, but also a very rewarding one,” noted Stage Manger, Ella Murray (V).
All of these efforts contributed to an entertaining, surprisingly
humorous, and thought provoking Fieldston production of “ Lobby Hero.” Babe Howard’s vision for this production was clearly evident throughout. It was entertaining, surprisingly humorous, and thought provoking. The acting was natural and the crew did a fantastic job of setting the scenes. I thoroughly
enjoyed this play, and it was
definitely one of the best student productions that I have seen. Babe
Howard’s direction gave the strong group of actors the freedom to shine: “ Babe created the warmest, most welcoming environment, and I am so thoroughly proud of what we created,” shared Sasha Hixson.
