“Last Exit” Tackles Teen Noir by John MacDonald “Hello tinckleface,” high school private eye Caleb Destefano (senior Kabir Hamid) says to ex-girlfriend Mandy Giordano (junior Valerie Potter) in his best Humphrey Bogart as he enters through her front door. “What are you doing here?” she mockingly asks as she flaunts her high-heels and black feather boa. For a second you almost forget that you’re sitting on a pink cushioned seat in Barnard lounge on a Wednesday night in northern Ohio watching Oberlin’s unique improv troupe, “Last Exit to New Jersey.” You think you’re on the set of some early noir film with the cameras rolling. This isn’t always the illusion the group produces, though. Normally they perform an improvised hour-long “episode” each week based on director Graeme Hinde’s loose plot designs dealing with the twisted sagas of nine angsty teens as they fall in and out of love, betray each other and get high out back behind the bleachers. But this Wednesday night the troupe tried another genre worlds apart from the “Dawson’s Creek” and “Beverly Hills 90210” of TV land. Instead, they tackled the mysterious black and white realm of film noir. Hinde’s characters embroil themselves in a mystery involving missing clothes, double-dealing girlfriends, loony high school principals and crossword-obsessed fathers. “Last Exit” invokes the ghosts of Fred MacMurray and Mary Astor exquisitely with the group’s tailored suits and dresses, Lucky Strike cigarettes and “Hello Dollface” clichés. But they turn the familiar noir formula on its head by setting the narrative during the characters’ senior year of high school. In fact, it isn’t suave detetective Caleb that solves the mystery of the vanishing wardrobes — it’s his friend Tyler’s (junior Paul Blanding) father, Mr. Fallon, played by senior guest star Michael Lebovitz. And though these were jokes-a-plenty, the real focus of both the group’s inexhaustible hilarity and their immense talent was how they were able to improv the look, feel and sound of a classic ’30s detective film. Hamid, in his lead detective role, was especially impressive. Pulling lines out of his bottomless hat like “I don’t bat on that side of the mound, so stop throwing me those pitches” in response to the advances of Vidal, first year Brian Kenny, Hamid proved the star of the show, both in his effortless composure and killer one-liners. But Caleb’s partner Derek Moyans (senior David Blatt) was also fantastic, as was the rest of the cast, from Siberian expatriate Ileana Milanovich (sophomore Hallie Gnatovich) to the crazy principal/clothes thief Leo Ornstein, played by sophomore guest star Jonah Mitropoulos. The whole crew knew how to turn Hinde’s loose plots into something accessible, coherent and very, very funny. They deftly maneuvered across the range of noir devices — swooning lovers, inner monologues and vengeful lunatics Blanding, who played wronged boyfriend Tyler Fallon, described how the “scenes take on a life of their own.” During Wednesday night’s performance it was impossible to tell where the plot ended and the improvisation began. Unlike most improv troupes that go straight for the laughs, “Last Exit”’s use of drama really added a tension to their performances. It was the spaces between the drama and the outright comedy that were the most amusing and fun to watch. Hinde wasn’t far off when he described the troupe’s material as “ironically unironic.” Also of note was sophomore Jill Briana Donnelly’s dead-on evocation of everyone’s high school social studies teacher. Storming into the room before “Last Exit” had even made an appearance, she stunned everyone in the room. Shamelessly dull, nasal-voiced and of dubious educational background, Mrs. Donnelly wasted no time in handing out a worksheet testing our knowledge of current events. Though Donnelly maintained a congenial demeanor, she wasn’t adverse to admonishing those late to “class” or silencing the stray student who spoke without raising his or her hand. If anyone doubts the improv talent on Oberlin’s campus, or wonders why another improv troupe is making the rounds, they need only come to Barnard lounge every Wednesday night at 10 p.m. to see what all the fuss is about. Because whether they’re solving crimes or sleeping with their best friend’s girlfriend, the men and women of “Last Exit” will keep you doubled over wanting more. Oberlin’s annual Improv Conference will be coming through Hales Gym starting on April 19th and lasting to the 21st.

April 12 April 19

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