Upon hearing that this year’s Advanced Drama fall play is a spoof on secret agents, complete with trench coats, shoe-phones, and plots to take over the world, most students will undoubtedly think of such movies as Austin Powers, and The Pink Panther. Many adults, however, will probably make a connection to a short-lived yet painfully hilarious ‘60s TV show.

The name of that show was Get Smart, which also happens to be the title of the fall play. Adapted from the series originally created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, the play is centered around a man named Maxwell Smart (seniors Matt Goldsworthy and Michael Blong). Smart is the bumbling top agent of a secret organization called CONTROL, whose business is counter-espionage. Along with his more capable partner, Agent 99 (seniors Oriel South and Catie Wheat), his mission is to protect the very powerful weapon dubbed the “inthermo” from falling into the hands of KAOS, the international organization of evil. Fortunately Mr. Big (seniors Kyle Ryan and Michael Workman), the pint-sized leader of KAOS, is as incompetent as Smart himself and their battle of wits is partly what makes the play so amusing.

The Advanced Drama class has been rehearsing since the first day of school and is now beginning the final stages of preparation. Since the play has a double cast and there is only one auditorium, they trade off every other day. While one cast is using the main stage to plan out blocking (the planned onstage movements), the other is running lines in the foyer.

The typical rehearsal scene consists of a few actors on the stage, which is broken up into ten levels by various black block-like set pieces.

Assistant Directors seniors Amy Fram and Elizabeth Hueter-Willoughby sit ready to prompt lines and copy down blocking, while Drama Department Director Brent Beerman paces the auditorium encouraging the student actors to take risks with their characters. The suggestions he makes range from having them try crazy accents to adding a light saber fight to the play.

“I want them to try absolute extremes so that they can tone it down and get something interesting yet believable out of it,” said Beerman. “I keep telling them that there is so much they can do with this set. It’s pretty much blank and doesn’t move, which leaves so much up to the imagination.”

Apparently, this advice has been effective, because many of the actors also commented on the freedom that the set provides.



“The set is so crazy,” said Ryan. “The levels allow us to establish who’s in power at different times of the play, and since there are hardly any set changes, we can focus on acting and not on trying to memorize what set pieces are available for each scene.”

The limited set changes are also good news for audiences, who will not have to wait in silence after every scene. In fact, they won’t have to wait in silence after any scene, because during the few scene changes that do occur, there will be “commercials” projected on a drop screen. As a throwback to the TV show, these commercials are performed and filmed by the students who don’t have lead parts and are in the true ‘60s style.

“We decided it would be interesting to add this bit of nostalgia to the show,” said senior Brianna Johnson, who is partly in charge of filming the commercials. “We tried to make them as authentic as we could by using over-the-top acting, corny jingles, and lots of polyester clothing. I think people who used to watch the show will especially get a kick out of it.”

The one danger of having a play that is based on a TV show or movie is that people will inevitably come in with their own preconceived notions of what they’re going to see.

“Last year, the fall play was Grease, and everyone expected Danny Zucko to look and act like John Travolta,” explained Goldsworthy, “but when he didn’t, they were disappointed. You can’t expect Get Smart to be exactly like the show. It just has a similar atmosphere.”

Many of the actors, worried that they might bring their preconceived notions of how their character should be played, have decided not to watch clips of the TV show until they have fully developed their characters.

“I really wanted to come up with Smart’s persona by myself,” said Blong. “I don’t just want to mimic [the original actor] Don Adams.”

It’s clear that many of the actors have already started constructing the personalities of their characters, trying to be as specific as possible with their choices.

“My Agent 99 character is a bit insecure because she is a woman trying to make it in a man’s business,” said South. “She’s also in love with Smart, but she knows that he is all about getting the job done.”

Of course, some character choices are stranger than others.

“I’ve decided that one of the reasons that Mr. Big is so angry is because he is a Red Sox fan,” explained Workman. “That just made sense to me.”



Although the fall play never gets as much buzz as the spring musical, anyone who sees it usually agrees that it is terribly underrated.

“The fall play isn’t a spectacle like the musical and is usually pretty obscure,” said Ryan, “but people will still have a great time if they come to see it. It’s different than any other play we’ve ever done, and I know we say that for every play, but it’s always true.”

And if that doesn’t convince you, perhaps this will.



“If you don’t see this play,” said Goldsworthy, “you’ll be out of the loop. One of your friends will say, ‘Have some crackers, princess,’ and you won’t know what they’re talking about. You’ll be an instant loser.”

To avoid this terrible (though slightly improbable) fate, make sure you don’t miss Get Smart, playing November 16th at 6 p.m. and also the 17th and 18th at both 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in the MacDonald auditorium.

‘Have some crackers, princess,’ and you won’t know what they’re talking about. You’ll be an instant loser.”

To avoid this terrible (though slightly improbable) fate, make sure you don’t miss Get Smart, playing November 16 at 6 p.m. and also the 17th and 18th at both 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in the MacDonald auditorium.