On February 24 and 25, Jesuit Dallas Stage and film presented the witty and comical play “The Real Inspector Hound” at the Melsheimer Family Theater. This was the first directorial debut of Mr. Hornsby for our theater program. This play is a little different from a traditional play, having multiple characters outside of the play itself commenting and critiquing the actors, which leads to hysterical comedy for the play. Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Moon (one of the characters played by Charlie Fent) and Mr. Hornsby (director). Both of them provided us with a scope of the play below.
Interview with Charlie Fent
“One of my friends has been doing theater since before kindergarten; she encouraged me to try it out when we went to high-school. The first show I auditioned for was Of Mice and Men at Jesuit during my sophomore year where I became good friends with everyone in the Jesuit theater department.”
Playing Moon, a verbose, begrudged and easily irritated theater critic, was extremely fun. From his self glorifying attitude to his explosive temper, the only downside was memorizing loads of convoluted lines. Moon was my first major role and absolutely my favorite role so far.
My favorite scene was definitely the final scene when Moon attempts to solve the murder mystery 4 times, each time incorrectly. Most of the show I remain seated, but in the last scene, I get to stretch my legs and accuse everyone of murder.
I can’t pick one, but if I must, the scene when Birdboot, my fellow critic, somehow ends up playing a character in the second act of the play he and I were watching. It’s convoluted, confusing, hilarious, and none of us really understand how exactly he ends up joining the show, even after performing the play twice.
My favorite line is, of course, “I will kill you for this Simone Gascoyne!” It is not one character’s line as half the cast, at one point or another, promises to kill poor Simon.
Rehearsals were always energetic and exciting, colored by our amazing cast and incredible director, Mr. Hornsby, but I’ll never forget how much time it took us to understand the wonderful, nonsensical story we were performing. Although I won’t be a part of Clue, Jesuit’s next performance, I can not wait to see my cast mates return to the stage in another murder mystery.
Interview with Mr. Hornsby
“Initially I first got involved my freshman year of high-school because I saw my friends having so much fun, my 8th grade year so I really wanted to try it. I then did it for almost 10 years.”
“Yes, I have helped in the senior one acts, I worked a lot with Mr. Patterson on those. But this is the biggest production I have directed here.”
“It was the first show that I was the lead in and I just had so much fun doing it. It felt like something to come back to. It also had a lot of good laughs.”
“I really liked the scenes between Moon and Birdboot. But I really like the Moon speech because of how fun it is to perform.”
“I really liked the scenes between Moon and Birdboot. But I really like the Moon speech because of how fun it is to perform.”
