Imagination is dead. Or is it? "We only need a single visionary," says the Guardian at the play's opening ... and I think we've found him. Jeremy Basescu '02, in partial fulfillment of Theater and Dance 78, Senior Honors, has produced a true gem,"Too Many People in this House." This play, directed by Assistant Professor of Theater and Dance Manu Mukasa was such a pleasure that I saw it all three nights it was in production.

The premise, established by the Guardian (Jake Lilien, UMass) and the Angel (Wing Mui '05), is the destruction of another world, which can only be salvaged with the help of Janny (Jiehae Park '02), a New Yorker whose imagination has no limits. Her brother, Gil (DeLeon Wright '05), is an aspiring businessman whose life is in a shambles. Paul Whitaker (Tristan Jeffers '03) and Rachael (Ellie Knaus, Smith College) are the responsible innocents caught in the crossfire.

The script is hilarious, fanciful and very tight. One might even argue that it is too tight, for at the end of the first act, after the Angel and Guardian beam all the characters back to "their world," there arose a hum of confusion from the audience, unsure whether or not the play had ended. Of course, it had not; the play continued, crossing dimensional lines and finally culminating with a delicious circularity that belies the apparent spontaneity of the script.

But, there is much more to the play than well-timed Vegan quips and an original storyline. "The lighting and music both added a lot," said stage manager Brian Clowdus '03. "To see it all come together in the last week of tech-it made a beautiful picture."

The creativity of the lighting design by Michael Baumgarten was impressive. Its use in signifying both lapses in time and changes of mood is remarkably effective. Also, the nostalgic 80s-style soundtrack, designed by Katherine Buechner '05, succeeded both in eliciting laughs and setting the tone for each scene.

"It was my first time doing sound design, so I was a little nervous. Working with Manu was great because he didn't just tell me what to do, but let me pursue my own ideas as well. I feel I really learned a lot," said Buechner.

The set, designed by Emma Trask '02, was marvelously efficient. The painting on the wall became a semi-transparent screen for one of the funniest moments in the script, unfortunately caught by only half the audience. From the right angle, one can actually see Lucky (the porcupine) animated, playing poker with Janny.

The play makes good use of all the spaces available in Kirby, from the iron grating of the catwalk to the lighting and sound booth. The backstage and offstage areas are just as alive as the stage itself, helping the audience to "realize that this world," the world Basescu created, "is as real as their own."

The genius of the costume design, by Emily Rosenberg, did not quite hit me until my third viewing of the play, when I noticed that the shirt Janny wears at the end of the show matches the pattern of the clothing worn by the angels, thus signaling the smooth transition of her character into the alternate dimension. "See? Janny belongs here," the shirt seems to say.

The real focus of the play, however, is on its characters. Everything seemed to flow so seamlessly that I was surprised to discover how involved and collaborative the process had been. "I think that the actors all had something very strong that connected them to the characters. And once rehearsals got going, I was able to tailor the characters to the actors; so I would never rewrite a line without having the actor in mind," said Basescu.

Jeffers echoed these sentiments. "Manu asked a lot of us, but he gave a lot, too," said Jeffers. "Jeremy gave a lot, and his characters were really consistent. Also, Manu worked with us to find a character we could really fit ourselves into."

The actors certainly did grow into their parts. Jeffers and Park livened up the stage and Mui's whimsical representation of an angel masquerading as Gil and Janny's mother was well-loved by the audience. When asked how he felt about his colorful apron, Mui simply stated, "I was hoping for a dress."

Mui revealed that the final production was actually quite different from the original script. "Instead of shiny, alien angels, [they were] more like 'It's a Wonderful Life' angels," he said. "Instead of trying to save a world, they were trying to save Janny. It was much more traditional."

Basescu confirmed this change in script. In an upcoming draft he intends to develop this change further, so that the angels believe in the first act that Gil is the "visionary" and not Janny. This will resolve a number of currently ambiguous plot points. "We want everything in the script to be not just sensible, but necessary," he explained.

This professionalism, bordering on perfectionism, impressed many. Clowdus, in particular, was full of praise for the playwright. "Jeremy was such a joy to work with. I think he is so above his level as a college student," said Clowdus. "He was present at every rehearsal, totally going above and beyond the call of duty. If he has a criticism to make, he always says something positive first. He really kept the morale and energy of the cast up."