Two people meet at 3 a.m. in a laundromat — they share a last name and have never met before. As the strangers talk among the whirring and clunking of the washers and dryers, they reveal dark secrets.
Out of the three shows this season, director Taylor East said “Third and Oak: The Laundromat” by Marsha Norman is “the most minimal and different, definitely the oddball of the three.”
Continuing the all-female Cave Theatre series, the play tells a story that focuses on the personal darkness of being alone. The show opens at 7:30 tonight in Arts and Communication Building Room 007.
Only two actresses make up the cast: junior acting major Amelia Windom, who plays Alberta Johnson, and sophomore acting major Kelsey Johnson, who plays Deedee Johnson.
Alberta is a 47-year-old woman who Windom describes as a more conservative woman who harbors a secret.
“[She] knows who she is and what her beliefs are,” she said. “On the outside, she seems hard and aloof, but she isn’t as put together as Deedee assumes she is.”
As Alberta begins her laundry, she wants to be alone and have her privacy and thoughts to herself.
“Then, this whirlwind of a girl comes in and shifts the tectonic plates of her earth,” Windom said.
Deedee is a younger woman who normally depends on her mother to wash her clothes. She is an emotional mess and has no clue what she wants out of life.
“She’s like a tornado,” Johnson said.
However, as they wash their laundry and share stories together, these two women realize that they have more in common than they thought: Both are struggling with how to adapt to loneliness.
East, a junior marketing and production major, said this play is about many of the problems that people face in their lives. Alberta struggles with moving on from the past and becoming comfortable with being alone while Deedee experiences feelings of inadequacy.
“[Deedee] questions herself — from her looks and her intelligence to what others think of her,” Johnson said. “I think that everyone has felt like that.”
Unlike most Cave Theatre shows that tend to be more experimental, East said “Third and Oak: The Laundromat” is more simple and puts the focus on the story line and the characters.
“This play is about the walls people build up that they think they need to protect themselves,” Windom said. “The two characters break down each other’s walls, and they learn that it’s okay to be alone.”
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