Get a Clue

It's gotten to the middle of the semester now, and that means the money that I carefully budgeted to get me through the whole semester is completely gone. Of course, Penn State offers the luxury of a number of free arts events on campus. The most consistently enjoyable of those events, I've found, are the No Refund Theatre productions at the Forum every weekend.

Last week, NRT took on an adaptation of the film version of Clue, which I've seen roughly 300 times on Comedy Central in the past 10 years, give or take a couple hundred. Needless to say, the novelty of the occasion piqued my interest.

The production of Clue was especially impressive because the direction and timing had to be perfect. In the film, the director had the luxury of using camera angles to conceal certain characters who were off committing their murders. But in the stage performance, everyone had to be in the right place at the right time. I don't know how NRT pulled it off, but using every inch of the Forum's free space, they did it.

NRT never fails to impress me, no matter how well the performances go. A theatre troupe made up entirely of students shouldn't be as good at what they do as NRT is. To balance a full-time class schedule with the commitment to putting on a great show is commendable. And though the shows aren't always perfect, I can't fault them for a mistake here or there. Besides, what's the point in complaining about a free show put on by people who work for nothing?

NRT has eight more shows playing this semester, so if your cash supply is running low like mine was last weekend, it's definitely worth the walk to the Forum. The shows are downright terrific.