"Little Murders" Takes Dysfunctional Family to Another Level

A daughter brings home her fiancé to meet her parents, a somewhat ordinary event for most American families. Yet for the Newquist family, no event is ordinary. Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club’s production of “Little Murders,” running from Oct. 17 to Oct. 25, is a dark comedy about a girl, Patsy Newquist, and her dysfunctional family. As the play unfolds, a deceptively harmless evening soon spirals out of control as the violence and crime from the exterior world, which become increasingly more prominent, seep into the Newquist family life.

The production juxtaposes a seemingly innocuous inside world with a violent outside. “The play takes place in a world where you don’t go out on the street for fear of losing your life, you question whether you are safe at all times. Not a day goes by where someone you know doesn’t get thrown down on the street,” Mark J. Maureillo ’15 says.

While the play deals with dramatic, serious themes, the show’s zany characters bring a perverse, black humor to the show. “The Newquists are the wackiest and strongest nuclear family that you could ever find. It’s like the Brady bunch on steroids,” Mauriello says.

Although the original play takes place in the 1960s, this production takes place in a futuristic society. A part of the HRDC’s Visiting Director’s Project, “Little Murders” is directed by Shira Milikowsky, who had the imagination to add few unique twists to the play, playing with gender in “Little Murders.” “We’ve actually cast a female performer, Elizabeth K, Leimkuhler ’15, as Carol Newquist, the father, and a male performer, Mark Mauriello, as Marjorie, the mother, which sets up an interesting dynamic and adds a really cool extra dimension to the humor of the play,” assistant director  Joey R. Longstreet ’16 says.

This revival of “Little Murders” is strikingly different from any other production of the play. “We are performing this play in a radically different way,” notes Longstreet. According to co-executive producer Magdalene M. Zier ’16, “Little Murders” goes above and beyond student expectations as the only professionally directed show on campus this season: “This play is taking it to the next level because Shira has obviously worked with all professional staff in the past, and so her expectations are definitely higher and more professionally focused.”

Ultimately, “Little Murders” is a play that audiences can relate to on a personal level. “I hope that audiences don’t see the Newquists as that different from themselves,” says Longstreet. “It’s a satirical portrait of the American family, and the play itself has a lot to say about America in 2014.”