Do you ever wish you could see a show with pop culture references, Hollywood heartthrobs and reversed gender roles? On Friday and Saturday, Nicole Carlson '14 and Samantha Gordon '14 performed Matt and Ben, a two-woman show written and originally performed by Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers. The show took place in a cozy classroom in Spingold Theater Center. Carlson and Gordon performed this part for their senior project, and have been working on it since April.

Kaling and Withers co-wrote the play in 2003 after graduating from Dartmouth College. In the original production, the two women portrayed Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, A-list actors and writers of the Academy Award-winning film Good Will Hunting. New York Magazine identified the ideal demographic for Matt and Ben as people "under 30-correction, make that 25-[who] live physically or mentally in the East Village, derive [their] intellectual sustenance from cult movies and pop culture, and think that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's Good Will Hunting rates a toothless spoof stretched out to 70 minutes."

The audience, full of Brandeis students and a few parents, fit that demographic well and responded quite positively, laughing consistently throughout the 60 minute performance. It is full of pop culture references, sophomoric humor and is often irresistible to an audience of a certain age.

The play takes place in Damon and Affleck's Somerville, Mass. apartment in the 1990s, before they hit success. In the play, the script for Good Will Hunting falls mysteriously from the sky into the hands of struggling actor-writers Affleck and Damon. The show pokes fun at the celebrity duo, as well as others such as actress Gwyneth Paltrow and author J.D. Salinger, whom the two actors impersonate. Gordon played Matt Damon, a perfectionist who faces moral dilemmas over whether or not to accept the magical script. In contrast, Carlson played Ben Affleck, the obnoxious, childish counterpart who acts as a foil to Damon's obsessive nature. The two argue over whether or not to use the script, rehash past failures and even have a hilarious physical fight.

Carlson and Gordon purposefully used a classroom instead of a stage to create an intimate feel for the production. In an interview with the Justice, Carlson explained, "We wanted it to be really intimate, like you're hanging out with us in our apartment, because that's what it is." The two interacted with the audience, and even ran through the rows of seating while trying to find the origin of the script.

The play did benefit from the small setting, given the scope of the set and the character quirks, like Gordon's deadpan facial expressions. However, the room proved inadequate for many reasons, including not facilitating enough space for all of the audience members. Some found it very difficult to see, and audience members craned their necks to catch the action. Much of the plot occurred sitting down on a couch, so the show would have better suited a small, stage-less theater.

Despite the unsatisfactory venue, Gordon and Carlson clearly had fun with the show, and the audience had fun watching it. The show featured many great moments, such as Carlson, as Affleck in full Red Sox regalia, noisily eating snacks, annoying roommate Damon to tears. Both actresses also played other characters-Carlson as a vapid Gwyneth Paltrow who seduces Damon, and Gordon as J.D. Salinger with a comical mustache. Carlson especially impressed as the immature Affleck.
She succeeded in capturing the feel of an annoying little brother, and killed the audience as she imitated Affleck in a high-pitched, mocking tone. Gordon succeeded in her dream for the play she described in her interview, that the audience will "be grateful for their friends and have had a fun time laughing for an hour."
*