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Strong performances from students in Â鶹¹ú²ú¾«Æ·’s Harlequin Productions helped the cast earn an outstanding ensemble award at the Theatre Association of New York State’s (TANYS) annual festival.

The cast’s comedic performance of “Jest Desserts” at the festival, held earlier this month near Watertown, received a Festival Adjudicator Discretionary Award for Outstanding Ensemble. The production was one of only eight from around New York selected to perform at the festival.

Harlequin Productions Director Bob Frame applauded the students’ commitment, which demanded they adapt to styles of comedy and performance unfamiliar to many of them before joining the cast.

“Comedy is such a different style of acting, and many of our cast were not overly familiar with sketch comedy from past decades. They didn’t have that background to draw from,” he said. “But they worked hard to prepare for this, and I’m glad for them that they had the chance to perform at the festival and received an ensemble award.”

“Jest Desserts,” written by Rich Orloff, consists of a series of skits and performances similar to late-night TV sketch comedy. The rapid approach to the skits demanded cast members pivot between different roles and costumes, often with just one or two minutes to spare. The show ends in a pie fight among cast members.

The on-campus performance of the challenging material in October saw the cast and crew earn several awards, and resulted in the performance being selected for the TANYS festival. Frame earned a Meritorious Achievement in Direction award, Chris Yeckel earned an Excellence in Sound Design, and the cast earned a Meritorious Achievement in Ensemble Acting award.

The student cast members are Louis Araujo, Connor Barrigar, Cameron Bouchard, Amy Card, Hope Campbell, Thomas Higgins, Riley Kimball, Kronous Panek, Alex Reuter, Kylah Rossbach, and Jane Sullivan.

For more details about Harlequin Productions, visit /students/student-life/harlequin/.