On Saturday, Oct. 28, in a packed house in the Varner Lab Theatre, “Chaos” — a play written by Laura Lomas and directed by Oakland University student Brady Jacot — shocked both OU students, faculty and parents with its irreverent humor, physical acting and simply chaotic energy.
“Chaos” is a play about everything and nothing at the same time. It is a production that encapsulates the human experience through the unpredictability and absurdity of life.
Before the show started, the audience was drawn in through the tale of a young boy — played by freshman Paul Butterfield — monotonously bouncing a ball up and down throughout the entire 30-minute pre-show and five minutes into the main show.
The play starts with “the train scene,” an introduction to the world of “Chaos.” A young woman — played by sophomore Tanea Harris — gives a riveting monologue about her experience on the train platform and what she saw.
The scene eventually devolves into, well, chaos.
Actors on the floor, running throughout the theater, jumping into the seats with theatergoers, screaming their heads off, crying, laughing — everything all at once.
This is essentially what “Chaos” is — an absurdist look at life through loosely interconnected scenes involving only eight actors and actresses. The absurdism in “Chaos” is what makes it beautiful. It is a comfortable level of absurdity that rarely takes the audience out of the play.
The play continued to go along, briefly referencing past scenes, foreshadowing future ones and introducing new elements and characters sporadically, which gave the audience a real sense of unpredictability because no one knew what was going to happen next.
The ending of the play was incredibly poetic. After 65 minutes of actors screaming, crying, dancing, laughing and acting their hearts out, the scene ends with Harris monologuing to herself and tying everything together thematically. It is a brilliant ending for a brilliant play.
Laura Lomas’s 2019 play, “Chaos,” is masterfully recaptured through the lens of Jacot.
“The hardest thing was all of the preparation,” Jacot said. “If I didn’t know what I wanted coming into rehearsal, then we wouldn’t have been able to get anything done.”
Jacot’s painstaking direction, which included blocking the intricate movements of all the characters, creating an ensemble cast and executing a near-perfect production, seemed to be worth it in the end. After 70 minutes of frenzy and fervor, “Chaos” got a standing ovation from the crowd.
“It was an ensemble cast. It was a great time being on the show,” junior Graham Kenchington said. Brady Jacot is an excellent director, and everyone in the ensemble was amazing.”
The amount of work put into “Chaos” was truly staggering. It was a challenge for Jacot, especially since this was the first play he had directed. However, it seems he is up for even more hard work.
“I think this was a great first show to start with,” Jacot said. “I think the end goal was really worth it, and I can’t wait to direct more in the future.”
Rating: 5/5 stars
