Lost & Found helped audiences forget their troubles last week through lighthearted humour and extraordinary creativity.
The Dan Studio Series—a student-run theatre company—performed the student play collection Lost & Found at the Rotunda Theatre in Theological Hall on March 12, 13, and 14.
Queen’s Dan Studio Series is a completely student-run theatre company d with the Dan School of Drama and Music. The group prides itself on originality and risk-taking[1] . In Lost & Found, these principles shone through.
The company puts on two installments of the series each year, consisting of student-written one-act pieces. This semester, the series included four pieces: “Coffee Talk,” “You’ve Got A Big Storm Coming,” “Where Were They Going?” and “The Turd Floor.”
While some pieces were better than others, overall, the show was a delight. Each actor was engaging, transfixing the audience into a state of seemingly unending laughter.
The show opened with “Coffee Talk.” This piece was simple and sweet. The three main characters were best friends who met to get coffee once a week to catch up on life.
It evolved into a light-hearted yet serious discussion of the characters’ identities as young gay men. The piece brought lots of laughs and even a musical number about the horrors of going to the gym. Through its humour, the play managed to convey authentic sentiments about what it’s like to be a gay man in a heteronormative world.
The next (and probably the best) play was “You’ve Got A Big Storm Coming,” which was divided into four parts. This piece was about one of 2019’s best memes: the Area 51 raid.
“You’ve Got A Big Storm Coming” centred around two friends who were the only people to actually raid Area 51. When they get there, they find a dimwitted military officer in charge and a singing crab. The piece was utterly bizarre, but absolutely hilarious.
“Where Were They Going?” was about two detectives and one investigative journalist who investigate the disappearance of a rich family. With its elements of betrayal, the audience never knew what would happen next. It was mysterious and intriguing through to the end.
This piece was totally different from the rest, and seemed out of place within Lost & Found as a whole. It garnered fewer laughs and featured a convoluted plot line and an inconclusive ending.
The last piece, “The Turd Floor,” told the tale of a group of students on the third floor of a residence building who accidentally summon a demon in an effort to antagonize their residence don.
The demon goes on to terrorize the floor, throwing poop—hence, the play’s title—at everyone who angers it. The demon ends up falling in love with Shane Madej from Buzzfeed’s Unsolved series, making for the perfect ending to this delightfully bizarre piece.
Overall, Lost & Found was an impressive production. It was creative, and it told comprehensive stories with minimalistic sets and small casts. As a whole, Lost & Found didn’t take itself too seriously, making it good, lighthearted fun.
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