Chatting with Upstage’s Amanda Braun ’12 and Alex Ostolaza ’13

In their latest production, Wellesley Upstage presents a unique double-feature of two one-act plays: "Party Time," directed by Amanda Braun '12, and "The Last Stop," an original play written and directed by Alex Ostolaza '13. Although the two plays stand alone, their short runtimes make them ideal mates: each runs only a little over half an hour.

The first of the two, British playwright Harold Pinter's "Party Time," centers around a series of conversations among elegantly-dressed, mingling party guests. Their cryptic and circular comments leave much for an attentive audience to decode, and it soon becomes apparent that the real intrigue lies in what is left unsaid.

"The Last Stop" is written by Wellesley's own Alex Ostolaza and explores the themes of life, death and family through the eyes of a young man named Amos. Though it was originally written as a short story, Ostolaza has brought it to life on stage with well-crafted and realistic dialogue.

These plays will be the first Upstage student productions to grace the Barstow stage since the remodeling of Alumnae Hall. And as actors from either show will be glad to tell you, filling the space is no easy task: the new stage is more than twice the size of the Schneider Center theater that Upstage used last year. However, audiences will not be disappointed by the staging of either play. "Party Time" entertains the eye with a shifting tableau of silk gowns and wine glasses while "The Last Stop" uses sparse, dark-colored furniture to focus the audience's attention on precise details.

These dark and thought-provoking plays have all the qualities of successful theater. The ensemble of each works as a tightly-knit unit, precise in their every word and movement. Thanks to the talent and dedication of actresses who have been rehearsing since the start of wintersession, "Party Time" and "The Last Stop" are sure to leave an impression.

Chat with the Directors: Wellesley News (WN): Can you describe for us the overall subject matter of your play?

Amanda Braun (AB): "Party Time" is a 90s play by [Harold] Pinter, which means it has not only political overtones but also political subject matter just completely [in] your face. It takes place in the near future, where the government has basically overstepped its bounds, but what you're seeing is a very elitist, country club-esque building, down to the fluffy white curtains. It really gets into crimes of commission and crimes of omission.

Alex Ostolaza (AO): And my play is called "The Last Stop." Basically, it's about this young guy named Amos living in New York, and his life just kind of sucks. And then he meets death one day on his way to work, and hilarity ensues. It's not a comedy though, it's actually really sad (laughs).

AB: I feel like that's true in both our shows. Comedy ensues, but not really.

AO: Yeah exactly. I mean don't let that discourage anyone from coming; they're both really profound plays.

AB: I think the trick is that we find the humor in the tragedy.

WN: So Amanda, what inspired you to choose this play for the Wellesley audience?

AB: I came across it a little bit [by] happenstance actually. Harold Pinter is a British playwright who is sadly not as famous here as he should be, I think especially among students. This play in particular is a little bit out of the mainstream, but I think it's wrongfully out of it. Especially considering the current political situations in some countries, we should be talking about government, and where better than the theater?

WN: Alex, what inspired you to write your play?

AO: It came from a short story that I wrote about two or three summers ago, and I was working in old San Juan, Puerto Rico where I'm from. From where I lived to where I worked I took a ferry, and I saw this woman almost every day on the ferry. So I decided to write a story about this guy meeting this woman on the ferry. And when the opportunity presented itself to bring it to the stage, I was like why not, let's do it. And I'm also too stupid to say no (laughs). So here we are!

WN: Any challenges that are unique to working with your own play?

AO: Oh yeah. I've edited it a couple times; it's been a long and rocky road. But, it's been awesome!

WN: What have you found to be the most challenging aspect so far?

AB: I think one of the hardest things was actually all the snow, because I was here over wintersession, and we had a number of times where we were actually hiking to the theater (laughs).

AO: Oh my god it was horrible.

AB: It was so bad.

WN: Any interesting stories from rehearsal?

AO: So I've told this story a million times and nobody believes me, but Alumnae is haunted. Our first day there we were doing character work and all that and I look into the stands and I see somebody there. So I turn around and I turn back and he's gone. Alumnae Hall is haunted — tell your friends.

AB: It's a specific guy wearing a top hat. It's the Barstow ghost, and he's been sighted prior to the production. We're actually the first student production going up on the Barstow stage since the construction, since the reopening.

WN: So you're the first students to produce a show on the Barstow stage?

AO: The sacrificial goats.

AB: Yeah, we are. We're on the big kid stage. And we go up Thursday!

AO: It's fun. I kind of wish that we had a camera crew just filming this entire thing.

WN: Like your own reality TV show?

AO: Yeah, they would have to bleep everything if it wasn't on cable (laughs).

WN: Any parting words for us?

AO: Come to this show prepared to laugh, prepared to cry, prepared to miss your grandfather a whole lot and prepared to be thankful. My parents are coming up and I'm just really afraid they're going to completely break down.