(This article originally was slated to appear in the 5/1/03 edition of The Gettysburgian, however, the article was edited for content and significantly shortened. Here is the article in it's entirety.)
The Play Gettysburg College Doesn’t Want You To See!
Written by Nick DeStefano
On Thursday, May 1st at 5 o’clock, Gettysburg College is going retro. The students of Chris Fee’s Medieval Drama class are putting on a play; doubtless you’ll see the posters and other examples of our shameless advertising campaign. The play is titled “Tentatively Called: Dude, Where’s My Science?” and yes, that is the whole name.
(Re-) written by Gettysburg College students, directed by more Gettysburg College students, and with props and staging done by (you guessed it) even more Gettysburg College students, this production is truly a work of the people, by the people, and for the people! Working from the original (and incomplete) version of John Redford’s early humanist drama, the students of Medieval Drama have tuned, tweaked, and twisted the script until our dream matched reality: an after-school special themed play set in the 1970’s. Needless to say, we had to keep faithful to the true spirit of the 70’s; bad clothes, bad hair, good music, and drugs. Lots, and lots of drugs. Super-talented students helped to direct our manic flailing into something resembling a dramatic production, and we have lots and lots of different props so you don’t have to use your imagination too much. Equally super talented writers in the class helped to modernize Redford’s script, inserting humorous one-liners and jokes until the final product was so funny that a student died laughing after watching it. Obviously, we had to tune down some of the humor after that little incident, but now its ok and we’ve been approved by the F.D.A. as being safe for consumption by the public.
The central argument is one that we should all be familiar with: whether to do drugs or homework, and the consequences of choosing one over the other. (Do YOU know the answer?) So, needless to say, you and all your friends should come and see “Tentatively Called: Dude, Where’s My Science?” on May 1st at 5 o’clock, in front of Glatfelter. If you don’t come and see it, we’ll all be sad that we’d wasted an entire semester and then you’ll feel guilty.
UPDATE (4/28/03): Apparently someone in Gettysburg College doesn’t want you to see this play, we don’t know why, but it has to do something with the mysterious disappearance of our numerous “Tentative Advertisements” that were put up all over campus on various academic and residence buildings. It would appear that the powers that be here at Gettysburg College are afraid of what you’ll see on Thursday. Don’t be fooled; come and bear witness.