Laughter and cheers echoed throughout the Dreyfuss Theatre on Nov. 19 following the opening performance of Neil Simon’s comedy, “Brighton Beach Memoirs.” The play ran from Nov. 19 to Nov. 23 and ended with a matinee performance. A modest audience was scattered among the mostly empty seats on the play’s opening night. However, the extreme lack of patronage that night did not hinder the cast’s exceptional performance of the well-known, coming-of-age comedy.

Set in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1937, “Brighton Beach Memoirs” follows the life of pubescent teen, Eugene Morris Jerome, and his Jewish family during the Great Depression. Like many families in the post-World War I era, the Jerome family struggles to make ends meet. This is especially difficult for them because Eugene’s mother, Kate, has housed her widowed sister, Blanche, along with Blanche’s daughters, ambitious 16-year-old, Nora, and hypochondriac, bookworm, Laurie. The Jerome family depends on Eugene’s father, Jack, and Eugene’s role model and older brother, Stanley, for income. These struggles create endless tensions that revolve around their unfavorable financial situation. Through thick and thin, Eugene documents his family’s struggles and triumphs in his memoirs, an outward expression of his desire to become a writer, that is, if Major League Baseball doesn’t recruit him first.

An observant and curious teen, Eugene is often the scapegoat for all of his family’s problems. In his good-hearted and humorous nature, however, Eugene is able to brush aside his unearned trouble-maker reputation as he awkwardly straddles the gap between boyhood and manhood. Throughout the play, Eugene must learn to cope with constant conflicts including his father’s illness, his aunt’s struggle for independence and his lusty, hormone-driven crush on his cousin, Nora.

Eugene was played by freshman Alexander Boruff, a film major who made his theater debut at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Both plucky and sharp, Boruff’s comedic timing as Eugene was well-executed as he tackled the traditionally taboo and unnerving topics of wet dreams and masturbation with a humorous and endearing twist. Boruff’s performance made Eugene a relatable and sympathetic character as he constantly turned to face the audience, reading directly from the most recent scribbles in his memoirs.

The portrayal of Kate Jerome by graduate student Ashley Hencken was another noteworthy performance. Played with fervor and attitude, Hencken’s Kate was exceptional as she proved to be the strong, backbone of the Jerome household.

Throughout her performance, she kept the audience chuckling as she nagged her son, Eugene, for the most trivial of things including writing too loudly and playing catch against the side of the house.

Merideth Wilson, a senior theatre major, shined as Blanche Morton. Between dating woes and a quest to keep her two daughters happy and healthy, Blanche was played as strong and enduring. Wilson’s movements as Blanche were tired and exhausted as she struggled to sew table linens. Yet throughout the performance, her voice remained strong and unwavering like her fortitude.

In her Fairleigh Dickinson University theater debut, Michele Kole played Blanche’s bookish daughter, Laurie Morton. Although Laurie can be an easily dislikable character, Kole gave her personality despite her matter-of-fact line reading. Where Kole’s vocal acting and Brooklyn accent faltered, her physical acting persisted as she sat on the living room couch, gladly being waited on hand and foot.
The setting was picturesque, featuring two stories of the Jerome household with a living room and dining room downstairs and two bedrooms on the second level. With sepia-colored photos on the wall and an old foot-pedal sewing machine, the setting was that of a late-1930s home. And though opening night presented a few lighting glitches, the performance as a whole ran smoothly.

Ending with America’s initial presence in World War II, the play and performance illustrated the life and times of a typical Great Depression-era family, complete with the laughter and tears of characters and audience members.

ELYSE FETHERMAN
Entertainment Editor

On Wednesday, Nov. 12, FDU became the laugh factory of Madison, N.J., as it hosted the New Jersey Comedy Festival. On this night, six fellow students became comedians for five minutes in a contest to figure out who would go on to the finals to become the king or queen of comedy.

To kick off the show, the audience was introduced to comedian TJ Del Reno who joked about our new president, NJ Transit and his own voice, among other topics.

After Del Reno was Mike Caruso who decided to take on the role of a nerd and win over the ladies with his smooth talk. Caruso was hilarious. Next was Gordon Baker-Bone, who talked about our newly elected president, Barack Obama, and how he can’t hide being black. Baker-Bone was also very entertaining.

Then there was Shamia Casiano, whose routine focused on the fact that she’s not ghetto, that she can dance and she can’t do dances from hit songs like “Crank That” by Soulja Boy and the two step. Her jokes were carefully planned and also very witty.

Then the performers took a little break so Del Reno could chat up the audience some more. After Del Reno, Christine Tirrell talked about when she came out, how her family reacted and first dates. She was very comical.

Then Sabrina Noel came up and spoke of her freshman year at FDU, among other topics.

Finally, we saw Aaron Gage talk about being Jewish and being in relationships. He was very amusing.
As the judges convened over the contestants, the audience got to hear some more hilarious stories from Del Reno, including his picture day in school and his hilarious experience in Times Square for New Year’s.

After some time, Dennis Hedlund, creator and executive producer of the New Jersey Comedy Festival, went up on stage and announced that Caruso, Baker-Bone and Gage were the winners.
Caitlin Regan, FPC’s campus relations chairwoman and senior at FDU, enjoyed the event and was happy with the turnout since they had over 100 people come out for the contest. She said that the performers were awesome and she was really happy that the audience responded well to them. She can’t wait to work with Hedlund again and is hopeful of hosting the event next year.

According to Hedlund, he brought about the festival for two reasons: to help college students become comedians and to also help out his son, Derek. He stated that he wanted students to get the feeling of being up on stage as a comedian.

He said that they’ll have new-found respect for comedians because it’s very tough to do, even though they’re only on stage for five minutes.

He also wanted his son to “see the inside of various colleges throughout the state. And most importantly, to meet and talk with the students from the various schools to see what New Jersey college he liked best to attend.” Both reasons are very noble ones to begin this festival.

LISA ARPINO
Staff Writer

In accordance with its philosophy as a “Leader in Global Education,” FDU has integrated the theme of cultural differences into the incoming freshman classes through the medium of novels.

For two years, Jhumpa Lahiri’s “The Namesake” was a freshman reading assignment. For the fall of 2008, Khaled Hosseini’s “The Kite Runner,” another contemporary novel with cultural themes, was chosen after the successful results of Lahiri’s piece.

Lona Whitmarsh, associate professor of psychology, believes that the shared experience of understanding the novel unites the students and develops a connectedness to the university. “We are also trying to make sure that the freshman orientation is about adjusting as an individual,” said Whitmarsh.

To help further the progress of the novel, FDU set up three events to complement the learning ordeal. The most recent portion was a showing of “The Kite Runner” movie for the FDU public.
Whitmarsh and Yolanda Hawkins-Rodgers, associate professor of psychology, led the first presentation on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 4 p.m. in Twombly Lounge.

The hour-long event, “The Psychology of Evil: The Abuse of Power,” was introduced to a room full of students and faculty, with the intent on discussing “power and control as upsetting and outside of usual behavior,” said Whitmarsh.

There were a number of slideshows, which debated the definition of evil, faces that represent evil, the human mind, locating evil within particular people, fundamental attribution errors, and ways that good people fall into evil traps. Whitmarsh offered a simple statement during the lecture. “The human mind has amazing potential [yet] has responsibility for perversion and evil,” he said.

A two-sided handout was also passed out with a checklist of personality traits. One side was meant for the audience to choose which qualities were most associated with the character Amir, and the other side was meant to be chosen for the surveyor. As a whole, it was determined that when people perceive someone as evil, they are not given much choice; these “evil” individuals are always associated with negative qualities.

Kenneth Sammond, who teaches English literature, led the second installment of “The Kite Runner” events in the Orangerie at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20.

Sammond’s “Social Structure: The Islamic Imagination” was first introduced by Martin Green, chair of the literature, language, writing, and philosophy department, who reasoned the book’s booming popularity is due to its “enormously gripping and moving” quality.

Sammond began by stating Hosseini’s novel introduces many of its readers to Islam and Muslims in the world. He encouraged conversation by asking first, “What is Islam to you? What are Muslims like? What does your imagination tell us about Islam?” He said, “There is no wrong or offensive answer.” Still, he was met by silence. Eventually, an array of answers were spoken by students that Sammond used for the rest of the night’s discussion.

The dialogue became more intense as the issues of comparing religion, westernization, male dominance, and the idea of redemption were argued. Sammond said, “Americans have a cafeteria of options; take of what you like of what’s being offered on line.” He asked if this idea reinforced the same values that we see ourselves in the west and how Muslims look at their own way of life. Some of Sammond’s discussion topics were avidly disputed.

Ultimately, Sammond’s purpose was to demonstrate how the book failed to grasp the Islamic imagination because it was not written by an Afghan. But if it were, he continued, American readers would not be able to comprehend it. Sammond gave simple and convincing advice: “We have to be open to the possibility of translation.”

Sammond felt it was a challenge to engage the audience for two reasons: “Students are often reticent about speaking their views in an unfamiliar setting [and] students and others are afraid to say things that might offend or upset others about their beliefs.”

Sammond said if more students attended, the discussion would have proved more gratifying, but said it was fulfilling regardless. “In fact, the longer the talk went on, the more engaging the conversation became…till we had to end the discussion.”

Whitmarsh said, “Every time we read something, we try to take something away to enhance our lives.” In addition, she feels it is important to make decisions that are congruent with an individual’s values. She questioned, “How do we create an environment that has zero tolerance for disrespect or negative behavior? How do we eliminate that?” She brought up these questions in relation to the tragedy of the murder of an FDU student a few years prior, whose fate was brought on by an abusive relationship.

Whitemarsh’s lecture on power and control was developed from the struggles of the characters in the novel, but fundamentally, she wanted to create awareness of the types of abusive relationships, emotional or physical, that manifest over time.

“One death is way too many. My goal and objective is to do everything we can in our abilities to never allow that to happen again,” Whitmarsh said.

She also pointed out that an individual could easily take more inappropriate control in a relationship.
“We need to not allow ourselves to be vulnerable,” she said. Whitmarsh was delighted by the enthusiastic turnout and trusts that the audience came to hear and reflect on new ideas.

ASIA YOUNG
Staff Writer

On Nov. 20, Jeffery Allen, who spent part of his career lecturing at FDU and teaching creative writing in the master’s program, came to the campus to give a reading to the FDU community in Lenfell Hall. The event was conducted by English Professor Rene Steinke.

Recently, Allen has been receiving a variety of praise for his most recent collection of short stories called “Holding Pattern” and his most recent debut novel “Rails Under My Back.” In a humble and slightly quiet tone of voice, Allen began the program by reading one of his short stories known as “The Near Remote,” a story that largely depicts a world where surrealism and reality collide. This short story is particularly interesting because there is no established conclusion and therefore, Allen has left it up to the reader to determine how this story should end. Allen then continued reading a few passages from his short story collection before he began taking questions from the audience.
When asked where he gets the influence for most of his works, Allen replied that most of his stories are autobiographical but a majority of them are drawn from much research as well. Most of his stories deal with urban experiences that are mixed with fantasy elements. Since most of his works depict the ghetto areas of Chicago, Allen stated that while these regions are mostly seen as places of limitations, the fantastic elements of his stories offer his characters a chance to achieve another life, perhaps one that is more fulfilling. The intense and often explicit words of his short stories are meant to startle the reader, but Allen also stated that he is largely looking to entertain his fans as well.

Allen confessed that he is heavily attracted to folk tales and exaggerated stories which relates to how most of his works are known to stretch the truth. He also stated that he is drawn to oral stories because he is interested in the way that stories sound and this relates to how his works are written in a type of street, slang language. Allen is influenced by a number of renowned authors such as William Faulkner and Toni Morrison.

Allen is an acclaimed contemporary author and poet whose works most commonly depict the African American experience. Allen’s family is largely descended from Mississippi and therefore, most of his stories are rooted in the “Old South.” Allen’s literature world is grounded in the gritty reality of urban hardship in Chicago. He is most commonly known for incorporating a wide variety of magical realism in his literature in which his stories depict a surreal world. Within this surreal world, Allen’s plots touch on a variety of intense subjects such as religion and violence. The plots of his stories are also very dream-like and Allen confessed that one of his goals when writing is to take his readers into the world of his characters.

His literature is far from traditional and he has been known to experiment and push conventional boundaries in his works. His characters often find themselves caught up in obstacles that are both familiar and fantastic. He is very skilled at stretching realism, using an intense amount of absurdity, and writing in heavy, often vulgar street language, dialects and accents. Allen’s short stories have often been compared to contemporary poetry as well. When commenting on Allen’s works, Donna Seaman of the Chicago Tribune said, “Every relationship is epic in its contentiousness, every conversation an escalating confrontation, every foray out into the world a combat mission. The, suddenly, in moments of terrible suspension, the essence of life, in all its profound strangeness, is revealed with supernatural clarity.”

When speaking with some of the students after the reading, many stated that listening to Allen speak was a tremendously different experience for them as opposed to reading his works on their own. Many were also very surprised to hear his almost timid tone, but they stated that his humble voice truly made his work much more authentic because it was easy to tell that his literature is largely written from his heart and with much care. Moreover, when reading his works, it is important to keep an open mind because Allen’s plots are not an easy read and they are far from linear. Overall, his work is very contemporary and he is certainly looking to make a statement in each short story that he writes. Copies of “Holding Pattern” can be found in the FDU bookstore.

MEGHAN DROGE
Staff WriterJeffer

FDU’s Florham Park Programming Committee, FPC, was forced to cancel its latest events. The third annual FPC Powder Puff game, which was scheduled for Nov. 15, was cancelled due to harsh weather conditions. Also, FPC’s popular event Battle of the Bands that was originally scheduled for Dec. 3 was cancelled at very last minute. While the exact date of Battle of the Bands is still questionable, both events will be rescheduled for FPC’s Spring Florham Fest.

Powder Puff is open to all females, both graduate and undergraduate, as football players, and all males as cheerleaders. The two teams consist of seniors and freshmen versus sophomores and juniors. All players put down a $5 deposit to play and to cover the cost of their t-shirts. While ladies earn bragging rights, the best male cheerleader will receive a $50 gift certificate.

Battle of the Bands is an event where bands perform to show who the best band here is at the College at Florham. While first, second, and third place winners will all receive awards, first place winners will be the opening act for the big concert during the Spring Florham Fest.

Occurring within the Battle of the Bands event is the “I Wish” raffle. Members of the audience will write a wish down on a piece of paper that will be collected by FPC staff to be placed into a drawing. The lucky four winners will each receive a $125 toward their wish.

Another event going on will take place about a month after the spring semester has begun. FPC is holding their second annual FDUnited Week. From Feb. 24 – Feb. 29, FPC and the FDU community will donate a week to diversity. Vice President of FPC, Beth Holbrook, said “comedians, food festivals, and movie nights” will be planned.

The Florham Fest, which is a week dedicated to activities throughout the entire campus, will occur during April, even though the exact date has not yet been set. Activities that have been planned so far consist of: Spring Pep Rally, the big concert, the powder puff football game, battle of the bands, and many more.

JESSICA ROHR
Staff Writer