The Middle School put on the play Chicago ERR, by L.R. Karcz, under the direction of Katie Oberlander. Although some humor may have been lost on younger audience members, adults were roaring with laughter at this spoof on the award-winning television show ER. Simultaneously, children of all ages appreciated the slapstick humor interwoven among this melodrama.
The play opened with the handsome heartthrob, Dr. Moss, played by Emmanuel Weinman; he pranced across the ER set, displaying his arrogance and attractiveness. The character played by Alexia Soteropoulos, Nurse Carol Hasaway, tried to warn the newest member of the ER team to stay away from this womanizer. Despite her pleading, his peacock mating dance was not lost on the newest member of the ER team, nurse Cher Silverstone, played by Hope Younger. The new nurse would swoon each time Dr. Moss was near, and she would become frightened each time the Phantom of the ER, played by Milton Crawford, swooped in and out of the scene effectively using his cape to haunt the members of the hospital without a single word.
But, not to fear, Dr. S. Holmes, played by Andrew Gilmore, along with his sidekick Dr. Forrest Crump, played by Aidan Tremblay, were determined to solve this mystery. With magnifying glass in hand and the Pink Panther theme song as background music, Dr. Holmes eventually solved the case, despite his more Gump-like than Watson-like companion.
Meanwhile, the audience was introduced to quite a character, played by Michelle Nee; she was transformed into Dr. Marcus Smelby, a hard of hearing, cane-bearing doctor with questionable hygiene.
Another character, played by Daniel Jacobson, was Dr. Gene Darter. He wore a karate belt around his head, like the title character of The Karate Kid, and demonstrated how he would deal with the Phantom if ever faced by him. Dr. Darter wielded his arms and legs in the supposed manner of the Martial Arts.
A third three-dimensional caricature was one that was mildly based on Mr. Magoo. Dr. Ben Spacey, played by Daniel Cipriani, wore coke-bottle bottom glasses that only mildly helped with his vision, but without them he was totally incompetent.
An entirely different story-line involved the humorous exchange between Intern Noble, played by Jesse Hansen, and his patient Mrs. Bigbill, played by Hannah Soucy. The patient, for certain, lived up to her name as every time she tried to leave the hospital, signing all the discharge papers, something would happen that would cause her an even greater injury. By the end nearly her entire body was bandaged or propped up in some manner. Each time Intern Noble, straight-faced, would try to discharge his patient.
An additional plot-line surrounded a bratty child, acted by Jackson Heath. Brad Simpson carried an over-sized lollipop and a bag of jalapeno flavored jaw breakers, while his father, played by Kirill Zavyalov, dutifully followed his son wherever he went. Eventually, Brat’s, oops, Brad’s, own antics lead to his near-death experience as he choked on one of his own jaw breakers.
Streaming through these scenes was the silent wheel-chair bound Mr. Payne, played by Stephen Davis, who miraculously was able to walk at the end of the play, perhaps he should have loaned it to the accident prone Mrs. Bigbill.
Although random flash mobs denoted scene changes, ultimately it was the receptionists who tied the storylines together. Lila and Lily, played by Lauren White, and Nicole O’Connor, made announcements explaining a plot shift, introducing a new story line. Just like in life, isn’t it the people behind the reception desks who really know what’s going on?
In a play, it is the “characters” behind the scenes that know what’s going on. As all plays put on by Harborlight, the crew is entirely made up of students: Emma Faulkner, Crew Chief; Daniel Lynch, Assistant to Crew Chief; Benjamin Ellis, Sound Manager; Andrew McNulty, Crew Member; and Thomas Franciskato, Crew Member.
With the participation of all members of Chicago ERR, the play was a huge success! David Hursty, our Head of School, put it best: Chicago ERR “captured the Middle School psyche (dramatic broad humor) in a most entertaining fashion."