Aaliyah Afolabi
Connector Contributor
This March comes a play of intense emotions rooted in fear, survival and desire to the corners of Mahoney Hall. Through March 26-28 at 7:30 p.m. and March 29 at 2 p.m., the Theater Studies Program of UMass Lowell will be presenting Naomi Wallace’s “One Flea Spare.” This play is set in 1665 London’s Great Plague era, where many had to be prisoners in their own homes as a fight for survival against a life-threatening monstrosity. In this play, a wealthy couple with two unexpected intruders must navigate life in a 28-day confinement amidst a city-wide pandemic. This play will demonstrate an exploration of identity when the doors are locked and the outside world starts to spiral.
Given the social status of the characters, with the couple being aristocrats, socially being seen as the “masters,” and the low-class sailor and young street girl; the intruders socially being seen as the “servants,” there is a switch in this dynamic. Within these few days of confinement, there is a switch in power roles psychologically, rather than societally. With the servants becoming the “mental masters” and the masters becoming the “mental servants.” This inward switch of roles questions the fragile nature of authority. Who are people when mere and unpragmatic titles are stripped away from them? The sailor’s worldly experience in combination with the young girl’s “street-smart” nature from having to navigate life for survival, was far from what the couple could have comprehended. The plague is dangerous, but the real danger stems from how people treat one another when the safety of social mores is gone.
In the center of the promotional poster, sits a decaying citrus fruit on a velvet sofa. In 1665, the citrus represented wealth, health a global trade. Rotting on the sofa of a luxurious home is a symbolic representation of those in aristocratic positions during the plague. Something that was once sweet and vibrant, being consumed from the inside out. The peeling wallpaper, dusty light and shadows in the background create a sense of shabby chic claustrophobia. The playwright, Naomi Wallace, is known for using physical body as a landscape for political struggle. As the master and servant “somersaults” in their roles, the sofa they sit on and the walls encaging them become symbolisms of a dying era. The decaying citrus is not just some fruit, but a ticking clock. A ticking clock reminding the audience that although the characters are safe from the street, they are trapped with their own expiring secrets. The production of this high caliber creative work is a significant undertaking for the UMass Lowell Theatre studies program. Directed by Tom Coiner, the play serves as a masterclass in ensemble acting. Due to this story being heavily reliant on the friction between its four main characters, the performances must be urgent and intense to maintain the high-stakes atmosphere of a house under siege. For the university community, this is an opportunity to see a professional-grade drama, without the Boston price tag. “One Flea Spare” is a bold and supreme piece of writing that asks people to critically look at human history and social mores. By bringing the 17th-century to the Comley-Lane Theatre, the department isn’t just putting on a play. but is opening up a conversation about survival, power and the human cost of isolation. Tickets are free and open to the public. As seats are limited, those who are interested in reserving tickets should email shelley_barish@uml.edu.
