Performance cited as “One of the best this season has offered so far”
By Rebecca Peterson, Humour Editor
Last Friday, the students of Economics 102: The Economicking were treated to a completely improvised, incredibly moving one-man show in place of a five-minute oral presentation on “The Law of Supply and Demand.”
“No one could look away from what was happening in front of us,” one witness said, wiping tears from her eyes. “Even the prof was blown away by it.”
The performer in question was first-year student Lars Sander, who is neither a theatre major nor an economics major. According to witnesses, his show included a perfectly-metred Shakespearean soliloquy bemoaning his personal failures, a juggling act using textbooks and school supplies, and, finally, a heartfelt ballad begging forgiveness from an unknowable entity of deified proportions.
When asked what inspired the young man to perform such an inspiring piece of theatre, Sander replied: “Well, to be honest, I completely forgot I even had a presentation that day. I would have winged it, but I didn’t do the readings either and I know [redacted]-all about economics. The stress got to me and I completely blacked out. When I came out of it, everyone was clapping, so I guess it all worked out in the end.”
Word of Sander’s performance reached the Vancouver Fringe Festival, and the show was quickly nominated for both the Artistic Risk Award (celebrating those who push the boundaries of live theatre) and the Site-Specific Award (given to those who make creative use of an unconventional venue for their performance). Sadly, the performance was beat out by some of the bigger shows the Fringe Festival had to offer this year, but Sander did walk away with a participation trophy and a certificate that simply read, “See you next year!”
“The most important thing is that I got an extension on the assignment out of it,” Sander told the Other Press. “I’ve got till Monday to get it finished- wait, what day is it? Oh, [redacted].”
