Hilarious, touching, and raunchy. These are just a few words that were used by audience members to describe the recent student-run play “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress.” The performance packed the Black Box Theater every night it played.

The play follows the story of five bridesmaids trying to hide away from the reception in Meredith’s bedroom, one of the bridesmaids and sister to the bride, whom they all either dislike or don’t truly know. Throughout the play, they laugh and cry as they get to know each other. On the surface, they spend their time in the room doing their nails and makeup, looking out the window talking about the men at the party, or laying on the bed together talking.

What the characters are physically doing is often less relevant to what they say. The play does not shy away from hard topics, such as sexual assault, misogyny, racism, and homophobia. The actresses were able to instantly switch from talking about something pertaining to the characters’ personal lives to a connecting major issue in the world. The message that was delivered in these moments was very strong, and according to many women in the audience, made them feel seen.

For Sophie Labella ‘24, an attendee of the play on Friday night, the message was clear. 

“I saw messages like girlhood and it kind of reminded me of the ‘Barbie’ movie in a way. I know a lot of the cast were saying that as well. Just the message of girlhood and being a woman and experiences that women go through, and then in the end bonding together as women,” LaBella said.

One of the most impactful moments for Labella was when the character Meredith went from talking about the man she liked to revealing that she was sexually assaulted by him as a child. The rest of the characters came together to attempt to support her, and while some fell short of expectation, they all tried.

“It was definitely empowering. I think just the message of it and the way they touched on [sexual assault] and the way you had all these women who, some of them didn’t even know each other, just coming together to help this other woman who revealed that about herself was just really impactful,” LaBella said.

Unlike most plays at Loyola, it was completely student-run, meaning it had less resources and no faculty assistance. Everything from set building to the scheduling of showtimes was done by students, causing many challenges along the way as they navigated tasks typically run by the faculty.

“I feel like budget things were difficult, you would be surprised at how fast $1,000 goes. So, we really had to find the cheapest but best options that we could. We also almost didn’t get the dresses in time which is literally in the title. I think timing with orders and finding the money, or finding things as cheap as possible, was definitely harder than I thought it would be,” said Director Sydney Eichel ‘24.

At Loyola’s smaller theater performances, according to Eichel, the crowds are often limited to the family and friends of the cast and crew. This was not the case for “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress,” however. The play managed to pack almost every seat of the small theater all four nights it ran, selling 200 tickets and recouping their budget.

If you would like more from the Evergreen players, or information on their upcoming performances, you can visit their Instagram.