Winter Mainstage

A hush fell over the audience as the lights dimmed and lead character Officer Lockstock took the stage to introduce “Urinetown,” a play with an intricate set, catchy melodies and unique characters. After many weeks of rehearsing and numerous suggestions from co-directors Robert Richards, Chair of Theater and Dance, and Lauren Josef, Costume Designer, the cast and crew’s hard work paid off. This past weekend, they took the stage and captured the audience’s attention multiple times.

“It’s very irreverent,' Richards said. 'It makes a mockery of musicals; in a way it mocks community and it even mocks people’s efforts to do the right thing in a community.”

The play’s lead characters are accompanied by a full-bodied ensemble cast, who play the citizens of this not-so normal town. The leads include Officer Lockstock, Bobby Strong, Caldwell B. Cladwell and his daughter Hope Cladwell, while the ensemble makes up the other police officers and community members.

In this mainstage musical, a rebellion forms after Cladwell and his elite business socialites take over the drought-cursed town and charge all citizens to pay for water usage, specifically for bathroom water consumption. From then on, chaos ensues, all narrated by Officer Lockstock with the help of a young girl named Little Sally.

Both Richards and Josef emphasized how unique and hectic the show can feel. “It’s very irreverent,” Richards said. “It makes a mockery of musicals; in a way it mocks community and it even mocks people’s efforts to do the right thing in a community.” Allison Duke, Head of the Dance Department and the show’s choreographer, said, “[Officer Lockstock] talks to the audience a lot about how the musical itself is constructed. It’s parodying the whole genre of a musical and its formulas.”

“Urinetown” left Exonians in the audience pondering larger themes of bureaucracy and social anarchy. “It was interesting and entertaining to see a show about pretty serious issues portrayed with humour,” prep Phoebe Ibbotson said. Prep James Quinn also thought that the humorous aspect of the show greatly added to its overall quality. “Overall, [it was] a great performance that I would recommend anyone to see if it was ever put on again.”