Terra Nova playwriting review

I took some issue with this STF production. While I felt that parts of it were good, it had some serious flaws.

The main one for me was that the direction proved to be frustrating. Now, since this is a theatre-in-the-round show, literally every single seat in the audience will give you a unique experience of the play. Unfortunately, for my particular seat, I missed out on much of the action. The scene where Scott is talking to Evans inside the tent was completely lost for me because the other men were all standing in perfection formation to block my view. I could tell it was a pivotal scene because of the dialogue, but unfortunately I saw almost nothing of it. The same thing happened later when they reveal Oates' frozen foot. I could tell from the audience reaction that his foot was supposed to be hideous, but from my distance and angle I could only see what looked like a bloody sock. It was very disappointing.

I also have another quibble that may or may not have merit. I liked the acting. I thought all of the actors did a great job bringing intensity and honesty to their roles. However, I did not like the fact that only Amundsen had a Norwegian accent, and the other actors did not have English accents. This asymmetry created two problems. First, it gave too much inequality to the characters. While I understand that Amundsen is supposed to be an outsider, he seemed to be too much outside of the scope of the production when he was the only one with an accent. Second, it highlighted how the English dialogue was an awkward fit for American tongues. Every time someone used a decidedly English word, like "bloody," it sounded unrealistic in an American accent, and took me out of the play a little.

As far as the plot goes, it was pretty good. I liked how Scott's memories, dreams, and perception of reality were all blended together. I didn't like how much the first half seemed to plod along a lot, and same with the beginning of the second half. The last part of the show was really interesting to watch, though.

As far as the set goes, I wasn't too amazed by the floor design. The sheets hanging from above looked pretty interesting. I think I was most impressed by the equipment and the sled they used; those were fantastic. The sound design was good; I liked the effects of the wind. The lights were okay. Sometimes I lost sight of their faces. Oh, and how could I forget the makeup! It was extremely well-done. I especially enjoyed the windburned look on the actors' faces.

This play seems like it doesn't fit quite well in a round stage. I think it really needs a proscenium staging in order to work.

Bug playwriting review

This is the one show in the Senior Theatre Festival that I actually managed to read before I saw it, so I had some idea of what I thought the show would be like going into it.

First, I thought the set was extremely well-done. In my opinion, it is just as much of a character in Bug as Peter or Agnes. I really enjoyed how it evolved over the course of the play, and how, from start to finish, it felt very lived-in. One thing I really wished for was something to suggest what the wallpaper looked like...possibly some panels around the closet or bathroom door. I could understand how grimy the hotel was supposed to look from the floor, but I think seeing what the walls looked like would have made it more convincing.

I think the actors did a great job with the dialogue of Bug. The talking, especially in the beginning, is very "chattery"--the characters talk over one another, often with very inane speech. I know some people complained that the actors were having trouble making themselves heard over one another, but I think that is sort of the point. I think Max Westhelle's Peter Evans was very convincing, and he went above and beyond what I had expected from the character: he was awkward, bizarre, and downright frightening. My favorite Peter moment was when he jumped all over the place explaining to Agnes his entire conspiracy theory. He effectively became a psychotic ballerina. I loved it.

I also enjoyed Caitie Auld's performance of Agnes. I really liked the direction she had in the beginning when she was in the hotel alone for a while. It really helped to highlight her isolation and how Peter would change that later. I think she did a good job of showing the character's confusion to everything happening around her, and her frenzied desperation to understand it all.

While I think Max's performance was the best, a close second had to be Noah Kaplan's Jerry. He did a wonderful job nailing down what a bastard Jerry is to Agnes and Peter. I think his characterization can be summed up by the snakeskin boots that he wore: sleek but slimy.

Overall, the direction for Bug was good. I never felt like I was really losing a lot of what was going on in the scene, as it so often happens with theatre-in-the-round. The actors all did a very good job at playing to all sides of the audience. I really enjoyed the performance.

Fences playwriting review

I will say upfront that I felt that the Seattle Rep production of Fences was faithful to my perception of the script. They did a very good job with it. That said, I did have a couple of quibbles.

The first was the actor playing Cory. I felt that for the most part, he did a good job with the role. Cory's character, to me, is definitely the whiny type, and I think the actor did a fine job representing that. However, I had issues with his portrayal in the final scene. To me, it seemed like he was being far too stoic around his family. I understand, Cory is supposed to have been in the Marines for all this time, so perhaps he is a little emotionally hardened by his experiences. Still, I didn't like the fact that he faced out to the audience the whole time that Rose spoke to him. I sorta see now how he was trying to stick to the theme of the play--putting up a metaphorical fence to keep some things in and other things out of himself. But I think he took it too far. Sure, have Cory be distant, but I think he's at least a little happy to see his family.

In the same scene, I felt like Gabriel's "howl" was unsatisfying. What I got from reading the script was that the end of the play was supposed to be cacophonous. Instead, it felt limp. I think it would have been a lot more interesting to give Gabriel a boost on the tech side of the show--maybe play with the sound design a little bit. I guess the risk with that would be that it would make his performance maybe a little less genuine, but I think it could have used a little more to add to the spectacle.

Otherwise, I thought all the performances were very good. Bono did well being a reliable but questioning friend to Troy. Rose did well being a loving wife to Troy, and her grief at his revelation felt believable. I think the actor playing Lyons did a good job of making his portrayal likable but slightly shady. And Troy, of course, was great. His anger and sweeping emotions came across very well.