Last weekend, my high school presented The Matchmaker, a portrayal of 1880s New York, where a wealthy businessman, an adventurous 33 year old, and a spirited shop owner find love in a treacherous triangle of flirtatious dinners and drunken fighting. The play was written as a satirical criticism of contemporary sentiment against interracial marriage. The businessman, Horace Vandergelder, finds himself lonely and hurt as those around him reject his desperate pleas for marriage on no basis other than the color of his skin. His own servants leave him in order to interrupt a potential romance by seduction. Fortunately, in the end, he finds a partner who agrees to spend the rest of her life with him, although this potentially happy ending is underwritten by the tragic revelation that she is only marrying him for his money. 

The play was originally written in 1938 and was a dismal failure, running only 39 shows before it was discontinued. Fifteen years later, however, the play was extensively re-written and became a huge success, going on to Broadway for a total of 486 performances.

After seeing the play on its Thursday premier, I left the theatre with a mixed opinion about the play. On the one hand, the acting was top notch. However, sound and lighting f***ed up so many times it was almost laughable. In one instance, a character exclaimed “Oh, there’s the doorbell!” seconds before the audience actually heard it ring. Apparently, that character is a psychic. Fortunately, the play was rescued by the fantastic performance of the play’s spotlight, which became the highlight of the entire performance. Every time spotlight came on, the audience cheered. I curled into the fetal position in my seat and softly cried to myself, humming the melody from The Teletubbies theme song until I felt better.  

As I eluded to before, the acting in the play was great. Two of the main characters’ performances lit up the entire play, particularly Nathan H. as Horace Vandergelder and Emily W. as the incestual crack-addict. The supporting characters were also great, turning the play into something definitely worth watching.

The play delivered its message. I am now sitting here, shaking my fists in anger at early 20th century racism. Bernie Sanders 2016