Welcome to the Neighborhood is no ordinary one-act play. It was
written in one inspiration-filled afternoon by Spectator
columnist and staff writer Eric Thomas, CC í03, while on
vacation in his hometown of Baltimore. Recalling a time when he
himself lived in a small town, Thomas wrote an original and
entertaining piece that portrays the dark side of an all-too-closely
knit suburban community.

Welcome to the Neighborhood is co-sponsored by LateNite
Theatre and the Columbia University Performing Arts League.
According to Noam Lupu, CC í02, the treasurer of CU-PAL, the
project was presented to CU-PAL by LateNite for co-sponsorship
because the script required too large a production for LateNiteís
limitations.

The story of Welcome to the Neighborhood unfolds during
the course of a party held in honor of a young married couple, the
newest addition to the neighborhood. However, the true purpose of
this gathering turns out to be the highly gratifying acts of going
through the hostsí dirty laundry and spreading gossip about the
other guestsí personal lives.

The envy of houses, partners, and children emerges after an initial
awkward attempt at civil conversation. The hostess Carol, played
by Eve Armstrong, CC í02, is in bitter competition with one of her
female guests but is oblivious to her husbandís affair with another
neighbor. The one virtuous character, Mrs. Koepecknic, played by
Abby Wilson, CC í02, offers the newlyweds the only sober
perspective on the community.

At the end of the chaotic party, when all dirty secrets are lying
exposed on the coffee table, the audience will wonder at the
pertinence of the playís themes and hopefully will carry away a life
lesson or two.

Assistant Director Yuma Terada, CC í05, who has collaborated
closely with Thomas on the production over the past month, said
that Thomas dove into the project with the thought that ìthere was
something psychotic about suburbia. What makes the experience
of working on Welcome to the Neighborhood so
addicting and fulfilling is the clear vision of Eric Thomas.î

Thomas himself said that he has a good understanding of the
playís setting because he has lived in the gilded world of ìstoic
dadsî and ìneurotically watchful mothers.î

The actors playing the couples who are ordinary in appearance but
shocking in their conniving ways are primarily the residents of
Wallach, the same residence hall as Thomas. This is an
interesting detail, considering that the play deals with individuals
who all live within view of each other and the disturbing
ramifications of this lifestyle.

Edward Rueda, CC í05, an actor and Wallach resident, called the
experience of Welcome to the Neighborhood ìa madcap paranoid
romp.î He elaborated, stating that the work is ìa gay-hearted little
comedyî laced with ìswearing and spying.î

For example, Ruedaís character, Howard, whom the actor
imagines to be ìan average man in a managerial positionî has
serious racial prejudices. This characteristic comes out in the
beginning of the play in a conversation with his wife Sally, who is
played by Marissa Desmond, CC í05, as the two peer at the hostsí
family photographs.

What made Welcome to the Neighborhood appealing for CU-PAL
is that, as a comedy, this play will bring some variety to
Columbiaís theatrical scene, which has been historically
dominated by musicals. ìColumbiaís community deserves to
laugh,î Lupu said.

ìWe agreed with LateNite that Welcome to the Neighborhood is a
tightly-written comedy that mocks relationships and situations with
which many of us Columbia students and New Yorkers are
familiar,î Lupu said. ìIt is a project that deserved its own talented
and dedicated cast to convey the humor and expose the wit of the
script.î

Welcome to the Neighborhood runs in Lerner Black Box Theatre
on Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 8 at 8 p.m. and 1 p.m. Suggested
donation $1.