Reckless: FCLC’s First Show of the Fall Season
September 26, 2013

What do you do when you wake up on a beautiful Christmas morning and your husband tells you he hired a hitman to kill you? Thatâs precisely what happens to Rachelâthe protagonist in Craig Lucasâ âRecklessââwhich opens Thursday, Sept. 26 at the Whitebox Studio Theatre at Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC).
The dark comedy premiered off-Broadway in 1983 and was later adapted into a film in 1995 by director Norman RenĂŠ, starring Mia Farrow and Mary-Louise Parker. The play first premiered on Broadway in 2004, starring Mary-Louise Parker as Rachel and featuring a cast that included Debra Monk and Thomas Sadoski.
Rachel, played in the FCLC production by Shea Kelly, FCLC ’14, is a modern-day Alice in Wonderland, as she is thrown out the window of her home and into perilous adventures that include game shows, assassination attempts, embezzlement scandals and unstable therapists that lead her to question her own sanity.
âRachel is very chatty and eager and delightful in life, but thereâs also a lot of tragedy in her past,â Kelly said. Figuring out how to âground myself in a past marred by tragedy, but also to have the lightness and the quicknessâ necessary for the role was the most challenging part of playing Rachel.
Director Patrick Dooley, FCLC ’14, chose this play because he âwanted to do something that was much different and much more complexâ than his previous directing work here at FCLC. After reading many plays, Dooley found that he was really drawn to âReckless.â âItâs a magnificent story,â Dooley said. âItâs so funny, itâs so hilarious and very poignant. â
For Kelly, the play speaks to her as she prepares for her final year in school before becoming a young adult in the real world. âBeing a senior in college, there are a lot of chances weâre going to need to take in the next few years as we embark on our young adult lives,â Kelly said.
The protagonist of the play is a lot like us, too. âRachel puts up a lot of façade, but in a deep way,â Kelly said âWe all do that. We all have our social selves that we are in public. The façade isnât any less a part of who we are, itâs a part of how we live our lives.â
In his research, Dooley found that, âMost of the productions have really realistic interpretations,â Dooley said, which he âdidn’t think that this play required.â The set, designed by Dan Geggatt, FCLC ’14, is bare bones, functional and inventive; what was a bed in a previous scene becomes a truck in a later scene.
The cast and crew have been in rehearsals for over three and a half weeks. Auditions and callbacks took place during the first day of classes, Wednesday, Aug. 28; it was concurrent with main stage auditions and rehearsals, which began that Friday, Aug. 30. âItâs been a lot of work but worth it,â Dooley said.
âIt is completely student produced in every facet. It is student- directed, every designer, all of their assistants [and] the entire cast [are] all students,âDooley said when asked why FCLC students should come see Fordham Theaterâs first studio show of the semester. In addition, the production features âmagnificent work from the actors and equally magnificent work.â
â[There are] a lot of seniors who are doing some of their last shows,â Dooley said. âSo get to see them now before theyâre [the next] Taylor Schilling.â
IF YOU GO
Where: Whitebox Studio Theatre â Fordham College at Lincoln Center
When: September 26 at 7:30pm to 11:30pm; September 27 and 28 at 7:30pm
Reservations: Email  the number of seats you would like and your name to [email protected]; Admission is free, but reservations are required.