stuff happens

[hotpotato]

Quickly, before I pass out from the NyQuil......

Tonight I saw this wretched play that my theatre professor directed.  The play itself is pretty good, but the execution was painful.  I'm pretty excited to rip it apart in my review.  And the best part is... he will give me an A on it.  Ha.

For anyone interested, my last review is posted on the course

Comments

[lizzy_bigwood]

I saw "stuff happens" tonight as well. I thought it was really well done, except for the fact that it was almost excruciatingly long. Three hours including intermission...ouch. Other than the length I really appreciated the idea and the format of the play. I thought the set was really great, showing the hierarchy of the political system with all of the men dressed up like unfashionable version of Ken dolls. It really portrayed the plastic vibe of government and politics. As for the actors, Tony Blair, good lord he was fantastic. Cheney made me want to strangle him/her (it was a girl with a shaved head you know... yikes) but Bush and Powell were slightly disappointing. And let's not forget the news reporters complete blankout on her monologue. Alas, overall I enjoy the message of the play and the way it was preformed, if only it were about an hour shorter and perhaps more fast paced I would have enjoyed it more.

Good luck writing your review. Sorry I kind of rambled on here. :-)

By the way, are you going home this weekend? I am, maybe we could do lunch in seattle one day, that is, if you are feeling better. GET WELL SOON!

[hotpotato]

Thanks for the luck wishes and the get-well wishes!! I am going home this weekend, presumably, although I'm not entirely sure how I'm getting there yet. (Mission for today - figure that out.) I'm going to the drill competition on Saturday, but Sunday or Monday I would be SO in favor of a Dick's run! I miss it.

Alright, on to the meatier part of your comment, haha:
I really should have elaborated more on that one... I thought the play itself was really well done, having read the script beforehand for class. And I thought Mark did a wonderful job of directing it. But the fact that it was opening night was painfully obvious. And yeah, it's a long one, but there's not a whole lot to be done about that - it's a long story to fully tell. Of course, it would have been a couple minutes shorter if that girl hadn't spaced on her lines... god, I felt bad for her. But to her credit, when she finally gave up and started over, her frustration with herself fed kind of well into the frustration she was conveying in the monologue.
As for the characters... I totally thought they looked like Ken dolls too!!! I actually mentioned that when I was outlining my review. Great minds and all that, huh? ...and yeah, Tony Blair was perfection. I also liked the Iraqi girl who did the final monologue. The whole girls-playing-guys thing surprised me, because Mark's usually all about avoiding taking the audience out of the play, and that took me right out at times. Cheney, though - she did have his mannerisms down completely solid. And I'm pretty sure she and the other bald characters were all wearing skull caps or something...? At least, that's what I assumed. The one chick I had the biggest problem with actually played a chick - Condi. I know she was one of the last characters to be cast, and it showed.
Anyway, it's a great play and Mark's conception of it was, for the most part, brilliant... but there are a few kind of dreadful points I'll definitely be calling out. So it'll be a mixed review. After all, it was opening night - of a fairly challenging play - and, well, stuff happens. ;)