Evan Linder’s "Frat" centers on four young fraternity pledges, and the established members’ decision-making process of whether to accept them. New Colony’s production arranges its Dankhaus space with comfortable couches and mood lighting, making the audience feel like part of the gang.
To an outsider, fraternities are a bizarre concept. Their members believe that they'll be automatic best friends for life, proclaiming "These are the guys who will be standing next to you at your wedding, and putting you in the ground at your funeral." But based on what? Mutual interests? Shared experiences? No, by membership in a club that requires a monthly fee.
In any random assortment of 40 college males, you'll find guys who are smart, funny and cool, as most of these characters are. You'll also find people who are closer to the negative image. The play confronts (though may not be entirely immune from) the old patrician system's prejudices about race (one of the less sympathetic members shamelessly advocates excluding a pledge because he is black) and gender. The female characters in the play are easily summarized as Slut, Higher Status Slut, Hairy Feminist and Voice of Reason. The climactic conflict centers around the notion of women as property, especially when rumors circulate about an affair between one of the member’s girlfriends and a pledge. Also on the ugly side is the show's portrait of the traditional hazing rituals, in which these boys are subjected to physical and psychological abuse. This stuff is as scary as it is fun.
"Frat" portrays otherwise good young men engaging in compromises of morality and loyalty that are all motivated by a simple desire to belong. We come away with the idea that a fraternity might be the quintessential fun place to visit, but not a place to live—and that maybe these guys aren't the oafs you once thought they were.
Reviewed by Centerstage!