Loophole debuts with two plays

Loophole Productions, a new campus drama group, will open its first two productions ever tonight, with the premiere of Exhibition and Manny and Jake. Each play deals with an emotionally stressful relationship between two men. In each situation, the problems are caused by a physical disability in one of the men. "Two men cannot connect in the way they want to," explained Seth Rozin, who is directing both plays. Exhibition is about the relationship between the Elephant Man and his doctor, but "it's not what society did to the Elephant Man," College junior Kent Davis said. Rozin described Exhibition as an "introspection into two characters." A very theatrical play consisting of a series of poetic monologues, it was written by Thomas Gibbons, a Philadelphia playwright who has worked with Rozin. The play has not been produced in about 10 years. Exhibition sticks to the basic facts of the story. Gibbons drew information from the doctor's journals, and added further character development. College junior David Borden wrote music for the play. Manny and Jake is about "two young gay men in the present who can't consummate their relationship because one of them has AIDS," Rozin said. He added that "it's not a political play." "A lot of emphasis is put on the physical harm but nobody has ever talked about the emotional harm," Davis said. College junior Jeff Morrison, who plays Jake, said that the play is "straightforward" and "presents both sides" in rapidfire dialogue and recitations "which inform the audience about issues the play brings up." Manny and Jake was written by Harvey Fierstein, who also wrote the Torch Song Trilogy. The two plays "concentrate much more on people," Davis said. "One of the plays' major themes is loneliness." The plays are "completely different in tone and feel," said College senior Kenly Amees, the production designer. Amees said that while [Exhibitions] "feels like Victorian England," ]anny and Jake] is modern and quick. "Whereas the Elephant Man is a very realistic play, Manny and Jake is allegorical," Morrison added. Loophole Productions is a small group of students who have worked on plays together in the past. They began collaborating on the two plays last spring. "We really wanted to do something small that we could do well that would be a challenge," explained Rozin. The plays will open at Studio Theatre in the Annenberg Center tonight at 8 p.m. and continue nightly through Saturday. There will also be 2 p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are on sale on Locust Walk and at the door for $4 to members of the University community and $6 for others.