Frat is a play that is at times difficult and challenging. It’s about four members of an American college fraternity organisation, and how the fraternity deals with an allegation of bad behaviour against one of its members.
The cast of four play various members of the organising committee of Beta Chi Omega. We learn that there have been elections for the various roles, and that there’s some disquiet amongst the four characters we meet, because of who has won each role.
This has potentially serious consequences. In the world of the highly competitive US jobs market, having not just a fraternity role on your CV, but the right role, can make all the difference to the achievement of not just a coveted internship, but other bumps up the ladder that come with the ‘networking opportunities’ involved.
The most important role any of the four men here hold is that of Vice President External, held by Brent (Luke Stiles). Alex (Max Allen), who is the Philanthropy Chair, is one of those who isn’t pleased about that. Charles (Elliott Diner) appears to be perpetually drunk. Dexter (Will Hammond) is the only one who seems to consider the potential outcome of not only his, but others’ actions. But then, he is the only person of colour here.
Through a series of short scenes, we learn of the wider college experience. There are other fraternities, and a number of sororities, and there is distinctly some competition between the various fraternities as to who can attract the ‘best’ sororities to their parties.
It’s also made clear that there is a lot of money in the mix here. Beta Chi has a huge frat house, with 200 individual rooms, and a lot of common recreation areas. We are obviously at an Ivy League college, from the way everyone talks, and it’s probably deliberate that the three white men all look frighteningly alike.
Having dissected the failures of another Fraternity when an allegation against a member was made, and having declared themselves to be a frat that cares, we then see them interrogating ‘pledges’ – students who might want to join the Frat. There are several of these sequences interspersed into the narrative, and every single one of them is horribly uncomfortable to watch. They also get more depraved and graphic as the narrative continues.
All of the acting performances are excellent, with Hammond in particular showing real nuance in his portrayal of a character who is frequently being used by others. Max Allen’s script makes a good attempt at trying to unpack the hypocrisy, but it needed someone who wasn’t in the frat already to bring an outside perspective.
This play is attempting to show how fraternities have evolved in recent years, and what steps they have taken to rehabilitate their reputations. I do find it difficult to believe however that one of the characters would be treated in the way he is shown to be here, and the fact of his ostracisation feels like it would all be for show.
This play may represent a truth, but it will take much more evidence of real change within real frats for this to feel like anything other than a fantasy.
Frat has now concluded its run at Edinburgh Fringe. You can follow the future life of the production here.
Featured Image courtesy Fringe Society
