Quinnipiac University’s Fourth Wall Theater had audiences seated for its last showing of “Really, Really” on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 2 p.m.

[media-credit name=”PHOTO COURTESY OF CARLEIGH PETERSON” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]

According to senior Theo Pinnow, the show’s director, the student-run production team had been working on the show since October. Their previous performances this semester proved to be popular, with Rocky Horror Picture Show selling tickets faster than the crew ever would have expected. The attitudes of the cast and crew made it clear that they all had a lot of pride in the show, and in each other.

Senior Props Coordinator Julia Daniels felt that “Really, Really” was one of the company’s best picks yet.

“In the past we’ve done stuff that’s not very relevant to our time but this one kind of hits home,” she said.

So the lights dimmed, the production began and over the next two hours the audience began their descent into explosive drama.

The show starts off set on the morning after a huge party on a college campus, one where electronics aren’t allowed. Characters Johnson (Derek Kelley) and Cooper (Liam Richards) are teasing “Davis the Good” (Ryan Sheehan) about his late-night drunk “escapade” with Leigh (Jenna Gallagher).

The banter between these characters is fun and light. The back-and-forth between Cooper and Johnson has perfect comedic timing, leaving the audience laughing within the first five seconds of the show. This kind of comedic jabbing continues throughout the first act – until things got rough.

The conflict with Davis sleeping with Leigh leads into a rape accusation, as when Leigh’s boyfriend Jimmy (Christopher Morisi) finds out and confronts her about it, Leigh claims Davis raped her.

The thing is, the audience is unsure of whether or not Leigh is lying. There’s evidence and subtle clues on both sides and as more information is given by other people at the party the audience is not sure who to believe or what to think. Every time the audience thinks they know the whole story, another twist comes along or a character says something shocking.

“I think it’s amazing,” junior Danielle Radeke said. “It started out really funny and then got really dark, but I think that it covers really important topics for today, and I think it’s really great Fourth Wall is doing this.”

The play was, however, very startling. Rape is a very serious matter. According to “The National Review” very few rape accusations are false, only about 2 to 8 percent. So does that mean Leigh is automatically in the right? Even without the whole rape scandal, is it still okay to sleep around and think of sleeping with girls as a “conquest?” If the play was trying to make a statement, the message wasn’t very clear. After all, the play wouldn’t have been as well-loved by the audiences if it weren’t for the actors. All of the characters, as it became apparent by the end of the play, were awful people. It was like they took a script written by the Michael Bay of teen flicks and turned it into Tony-award-winning “Hamilton.” Simply put, the actors were what made the play great.