Really Really... stressed out about the "me" generation...

Really, Really

written by Paul Downs Colaizzo (who's 27 years old...Dang!)
directed by David Cromer (I loved his Our Town and Tribes)

I have mixed feelings about this show and it's hard to put fingers to keyboard to make sense of it all. It's almost been a week since I saw the production... Maybe it's been the recent hype about rape-culture in America, especially with the Ohio State University stuff... oy.

here's a great article my roommate forwarded to me about Nouveau Feminism for our generation and how it relates to rape in the news:

http://bellejarblog.wordpress.com/tag/feminism/

Things I liked:
* Surprised by Zosia Mamet's performance. I was expecting her high pitched fast talking Shoshana GIRL's characterization instead was shocked by her monotone deep voice. Even her hunched over physicality marked a specific actor choice. Work it Zosia!
* Set seamlessly changing. At first I was shocked to see stage hands maneuvering the infamous couch and wooden frame, but the scene changes grew on me. They became a relief from the intense dramatic moments. The couch was set differently for every scene even if they were in the same space, which helped me connect that we must look at this story from all different angles.
* Clever playwriting techniques. I loved that a couple of times the characters talked directly to the audience, especially in Grace's speech to Future Leaders. I thoroughly enjoyed the final address to the audience by all the future selves of the characters.

Things I think could have been better:
*When Zosia acted in a heightened moment in the play she would yell, it lowered her status and seemed like a cheap actor choice. I think she could have found a stronger way to portray her frustration in the scenes.
* Blocking... sometimes I couldn't see an actor's face. Is this a choice Mr.Cromer? In the second scene an actor is slouched on the couch hidden to the left side of the audience... poetic or just poor staging...
* Jumpy. The play jumps from scene to scene. I guess this is a personal problem. I want a good old fashioned play set in modern times that doesn't have to jump from one place to the other. I think this is due to our cinema enriched lifestyles. I do appreciate the fact that the show seemed to span a 2 day period instead of trying to be an epic movie where people have whole lifetimes on stage...

I would recommend this show to young actors. There are plenty of good MONOLOGUES for young women. I hope to snatch a couple of them myself.

Maybe my problem with the play is that I am apart of this "Me Generation" and it scares ME to death that I'm losing what it means to be Human.  Ben Brantley calls us, millennials, living on the set of “Lord of the Flies” with smartphones." I don't want my hand glued to my phone, or my eyes stuck to Facebook statuses, or my mind relentlessly worried about how to advance my social positioning...