HBO's "Sex and the City" has been off the air since 2004, and we are no longer able to tune in to lives of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda on Sunday evenings. Yes, the DVDs are out there and TBS has been showing the edited reruns during the week, but it is just not the same. Girl bonding entertainment is lacking these days.
You might, however, be able to get your fix of female saga on stage. Students from the School of Theatre Arts are putting on "Five Women Wearing the Same Dress," a play that reflects the lives and relationships of women.
"It's a glimpse of women talking when no one's watching," said theatre arts graduate student Laura Kopec, the play's director.
The play takes place in a bedroom upstairs from where a wedding reception is being held. The women, who are also the bridesmaids of the wedding party, discuss their relationships with one another, while touching on a range of topics including love, drugs, rape, hardships and friendship.
"I love when a play can do that - create their own world and relate it to the outside world," Kopec said.
"Five Women Wearing the Same Dress" was written by Alan Ball, who also wrote "American Beauty" and the HBO series "Six Feet Under." The play includes many comedic aspects on top of its serious subject matter, not unlike Ball's previous works.
"I love his style of writing," Kopec said. "It's sophisticated humor with a touch of slapstick."
Through the women's conversations, Kopec said that the uglier sides of men and relationships are revealed.
Tripp, a young man and attendee of the wedding, makes his way up to the bedroom, which leads to his romantic interest in one of the women, Trisha. Tripp, who is played by theatre arts senior Brian Neufang, only appears in one scene but the lack of stage time is made up with the intensity seen between the two.
"You watch a roller coaster of emotion in like 10 minutes," Neufang said. Although he is the only male in the cast, Neufang does not mind playing the "prince charming" role.
"It's funny because he's a lot like me," Neufang said. "Tripp's a nice guy, he's not naive, he has had his own experiences. He actually just got out of a relationship and he's at a point of his life where he wants something solid."
Along with being Mr. Nice Guy, Neufang can relate to Tripp's quirky sense of humor.
"(Trisha) asks (Tripp), 'Are you going to give me your ID bracelet?' And I (Tripp) respond with, 'No, if you really like me you'll carve your initials in my arm,'" Neufang said.
Theatre arts and elementary education senior Christina Fruciano had a more difficult time getting into her character, Trisha. Fruciano describes Trisha as a young woman who is consumed by sex and has a hard time maintaining relationships. Samantha Jones, anyone?
"It's definitely one of the most difficult roles I've done," Fruciano said. "I've had to work on being sexy and slithering."
Kopec, Neufang and Fruciano all note that this particular part of the play is their favorite.
"The scene does a wonderful ebb and flow," Kopec said. "It has two people who are attracted to each other for the first time and they get to explore everything with each other for the first time."
"Five Women Wearing the Same Dress" will run Nov. 17-19 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 19-20 at 2 p.m. The performance will take place in the Drama building, the southeast corner of North Park Avenue and East Speedway Boulevard, Room 116. Tickets are $4 and can be purchased through the Fine Arts Box Office.