I have to say that Belleville wins the prize on this one. Granted these are two very different shows my heart leans towards the psychological thriller rather than the indie "real-life" drama.
I think the concept of The Flick could be a disaster in itself, the monotony of daily life running a dilapidated movie theater in Mass., but Gold found a way to make the repetitive movements interesting and Baker strengthened the characters relationships as the play went on... but I got frustrated with the quote-un-quote ribbon on top ending. I didn't need to have everything perfectly tied up, I wanted a French ending verus the perfectly 'kind of happy' American one.
Belleville's plot initially didn't excite me, since I'm not really a sucker for scary movies, but the writing kept an element of suspense, which is totally different from a cinematic quality. This play has already had a run at the Yale Rep with 3 of the same 4 actors. You can tell how comfortable they are, whether it be with each other, the text, the setting, or the direction, which allow for the realism to set in and the layered suspense to unfold.
I'm no Ben Brantley, a theatre critic for the NYtimes, just my humble opinion.
on a different note y'all should check out some great stuff my friends are involved with:
Abstract Nude a live-stream digital play by Gwydion Suilebhan, directed by Joey Brenneman
http://virtualarts.tv/wiredartsfest/abstract-nude-by-gwydion-suilebhan/
features: Anni Weisband (True False Theatre) and Cameron Perry (friend from KY)
Set in the Living Room of a Small Town American Play, by Jaclyn Backhaus
directed by John Kurzynowski, with Theater Reconstruction Ensemble
features: Patrick Scheid (buddy from Muhlenberg College)
No comments:
Post a Comment