The Kingdom Hall Is Just A Box
May. 3rd, 2006 11:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eggwardsOver the past weekend, Chris and I got out of Dallas due, luckily, to a bye weekend in the softball schedule (and let me tell you, it was time for a break in the softball schedule, but that's a post for another time). We drove down to Austin, primarily to see Randy's (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lostncove)play, 9x9x9.
Chris boarded Joey for the day, and we left mid-afternoon, because we wanted to clean up the carpets as Joey has been shedding up a storm. The drive, both there and back seemed to take a long time. I'm not sure if it's just the fact that I haven't been doing drives for distance for a few months now, or that I-35 through Texas is just that crappy of a road.
We stayed at a Holiday Inn on Town Lake, and had a great view. I was disappointed that the "roof top" (of the parking garage) pool was out of commission. Where's that Roaming Gnome now? I spent a little more on the accommodations that I would normally because A. If it's just me, I'm a cheapskate, but I wanted us both to be comfortable and B. this is the closest thing to a vacation that I'll get for a few months, so i might as well.
It was interesting knowing that so many of our friends were moving, or planning to move over the weekend. We called Jerry and Teddy while we were on the road, and they were just crossing back into Texas, moving Teddy from California.
We went to the show, and like anything I've seen in Austin, it's in a little out of the way something that's now called a theater. I've seen a couple of shows in warehouses, one in a house, another in a basement, and now one in a theater that was, in it's former life, a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. As the House Manager put it, "I guess they decided to sell when they figured out they weren't of the 144,000 who would be saved."
After seeing the play, I caught Kate (katesmash) the theater troupe's leader, and a performer,in the lobby (apparently the changing rooms are the bathrooms, too), and she thanked us for coming. We talked about the play for a bit, as we were both remarking on how we had heard Randy's premise some three years ago, and were interested in seeing the type of play it would become. Kate said i should write a review, and I will, but I'm putting it at the end of the post, and behind a cut for those who don't care, and those who don't want any spoilers, should they want to see Randy's "Apocalyptic Dysfunctional Family Comedy".
Chris and I went out to Amy's Ice Cream after the show for a little treat. I wish they had them here in Dallas, as they are far superior to the Cold Stone or Marble Slab joints. Any place that encourages it's scoopers to try to juggle your ice cream, and makes Guinness Ice Cream is a winner in my book.
After that we just went back to the hotel. I guess I had considered heading out to the Chain Drive, but when it came down to it, we had both worked a lot of hours at our jobs that week, and getting some more sleep was highly prized over seeing the club crowd.
Sunday morning we got up and met Mike (austinmike) and David (davidtx) for breakfast at the Magnolia Cafe (where I first met Randy and Kate a few years back). not only did we have a great time getting to know these guys, but I also got some great Gingerbread pancakes. Delish!
Then we just killed some time. I thought about going to one of the caves that dot the area, but when it came down to it, the better caves were a further drive than I was wanting to make. We thought about shopping in San Marcos, but neither one of us really wanted to spend the money, so I saw the sign for Aquarena springs and decided to take a turn.
Aquarena Springs has certainly seen it's better days. For years it was run as an attraction were girls from the nearby college would don mermaid suits and waive and do a show underwater in this clear spring as people watched in a submerged theater, or from the glass-bottomed boats that run through the small lake. Even the addition of a swimming pig couldn't save the attracting, with it's cable cars and tower, so it fell into disrepair.
Now Texas State University owns the property and uses it to study the natural springs and the surrounding aquifer, and the boats still run, more as little classrooms and an extra revenue stream. The mermaids are gone (working at Hooters, I bet) the cable cars don't run, and there's just a small aquarium, showing you the same fish that are in the lake. Of course, there's a gift shop, too, looking a lot like it did when it was opened in the 1950's.
On the drive back, we saw CJ (the formerprowlerbear) for a few minutes. he was taking care of Charlie, who was sick, and would be going under the knife sometime this week. Hopefully he is well.
Why is gas in Austin 20 cents cheaper than it is in Dallas? Again, there's many reasons to like about Austin (except for traffic, that would drive me nuts). After that, it was back to the road, and a few hours later we were back in the Metroplex, much to the joy of Joey, who was glad to see us.
9x9x9 is a show that's kind of searching out for what it wants to be. Yes, it's a comedy, but what kind of comedy? Is it slapstick or metaphorical or a sit-com? Perhaps it wants to be a great drawing room comedy, and in some elements it is, taking elements of miscommunication and misdirection and fusing them with less of a comedy of manners, but a comedy of disfunction.
The show is about Vicki who comes back to her parent's beach house, and while the family is a mess, with an impending divorce and the father sleeping with one of her school friends. None of this matters however, as Vicki is given a mysterious square, black box that contains a power that many people are willing to die for.
I'll admit that it's hard to give a review of this work as someone who would come into the theater seeing a new work without prior knowledge of the premise or the author. Both colored my judgement on how successful the show was. I couldn't help wondering if the play came to the Coda Project unfinished, because certain things just didn't add up.
For example, the play, or the actors couldn't quite agree on how many bodies were in the closet. Yes, one of the best jokes was the Pizza Boy, who is shot early in the show, is often moved around, but is also brought back from the dead-several times. He's hidden in the closet, but so are three or four other bodies and the count increases (thought the parents never seem to know), but in scenes after the others are dropped in, it's only the Pizza Boy that seems to remain there the whole show. Even the actor's lines can't seem to recall the correct count.
Scenes don't flow, either, as witnessed by the father calling for a family meeting one moment, and then three other scenes occur before the meeting is actually convened. Sometimes characters come in and out of the house with little reason, and even less explanation. The FBI agent appears, is defeated, and is never seen nor discussed again.
One thing I couldn't stop doing was placing Randy's posts about his parents as my guidelines for what the Kennedy and Lisbeth characters would be like. I think there were many jokes in the script that really weren't brought to the forefront because the actors didn't really understand Randy's humor and style. The character's could have been played much more broadly (or wooden, as I would think the father would be), and could have added to the fun in dysfunctional.
This is where Kate, as Lenore comes in. She nailed it, both physically, playing up the pratfalls and broad comedy, and putting the right spin on the character's words. Working with Randy for several years now, I'm sure she, of all the actors, could find the right note.
However, I am not sure who Donavan is supposed to be, he's the protagonist's brother, and is an innocent, but is he a child, a mentally deficient character, or both? Still, the actor handled the physical comedy very well.
It's my opinion that the play needs some tightening, and a few checks to make sure all of the elements flow logically. Writing a comedy that includes slamming doors a device that must be carefully watched by the audience as it passes from hand to hand, and as many characters that need to show their motivations as there are those that hide them is difficult.
Most likely it's even more difficult getting from where the playwright sees the play in his mind to the point where a director and company work on interpreting it in real life with all of the limitations that there are in small theater.
There's laughs, and lots of chuckles, but it still seems like the polish needs to be applied before another attempt at this work. Still, I enjoyed it, and loved the concept still, i just see more possibilities, including, hey, can the box do any other tricks? the concept doesn't seem to cross anyone's mind. Those little gaps seem to nag.
(In speaking with Kate at the show, we talked about some of these issues, and that they had many logistical challenges. She also asked me to write a fair review, which I hope I did.)
lostncove)play, 9x9x9.Chris boarded Joey for the day, and we left mid-afternoon, because we wanted to clean up the carpets as Joey has been shedding up a storm. The drive, both there and back seemed to take a long time. I'm not sure if it's just the fact that I haven't been doing drives for distance for a few months now, or that I-35 through Texas is just that crappy of a road.
We stayed at a Holiday Inn on Town Lake, and had a great view. I was disappointed that the "roof top" (of the parking garage) pool was out of commission. Where's that Roaming Gnome now? I spent a little more on the accommodations that I would normally because A. If it's just me, I'm a cheapskate, but I wanted us both to be comfortable and B. this is the closest thing to a vacation that I'll get for a few months, so i might as well.
It was interesting knowing that so many of our friends were moving, or planning to move over the weekend. We called Jerry and Teddy while we were on the road, and they were just crossing back into Texas, moving Teddy from California.
We went to the show, and like anything I've seen in Austin, it's in a little out of the way something that's now called a theater. I've seen a couple of shows in warehouses, one in a house, another in a basement, and now one in a theater that was, in it's former life, a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. As the House Manager put it, "I guess they decided to sell when they figured out they weren't of the 144,000 who would be saved."
After seeing the play, I caught Kate (
katesmash) the theater troupe's leader, and a performer,in the lobby (apparently the changing rooms are the bathrooms, too), and she thanked us for coming. We talked about the play for a bit, as we were both remarking on how we had heard Randy's premise some three years ago, and were interested in seeing the type of play it would become. Kate said i should write a review, and I will, but I'm putting it at the end of the post, and behind a cut for those who don't care, and those who don't want any spoilers, should they want to see Randy's "Apocalyptic Dysfunctional Family Comedy".Chris and I went out to Amy's Ice Cream after the show for a little treat. I wish they had them here in Dallas, as they are far superior to the Cold Stone or Marble Slab joints. Any place that encourages it's scoopers to try to juggle your ice cream, and makes Guinness Ice Cream is a winner in my book.
After that we just went back to the hotel. I guess I had considered heading out to the Chain Drive, but when it came down to it, we had both worked a lot of hours at our jobs that week, and getting some more sleep was highly prized over seeing the club crowd.
Sunday morning we got up and met Mike (
austinmike) and David (davidtx) for breakfast at the Magnolia Cafe (where I first met Randy and Kate a few years back). not only did we have a great time getting to know these guys, but I also got some great Gingerbread pancakes. Delish!Then we just killed some time. I thought about going to one of the caves that dot the area, but when it came down to it, the better caves were a further drive than I was wanting to make. We thought about shopping in San Marcos, but neither one of us really wanted to spend the money, so I saw the sign for Aquarena springs and decided to take a turn.
Aquarena Springs has certainly seen it's better days. For years it was run as an attraction were girls from the nearby college would don mermaid suits and waive and do a show underwater in this clear spring as people watched in a submerged theater, or from the glass-bottomed boats that run through the small lake. Even the addition of a swimming pig couldn't save the attracting, with it's cable cars and tower, so it fell into disrepair.
Now Texas State University owns the property and uses it to study the natural springs and the surrounding aquifer, and the boats still run, more as little classrooms and an extra revenue stream. The mermaids are gone (working at Hooters, I bet) the cable cars don't run, and there's just a small aquarium, showing you the same fish that are in the lake. Of course, there's a gift shop, too, looking a lot like it did when it was opened in the 1950's.
On the drive back, we saw CJ (the former
prowlerbear) for a few minutes. he was taking care of Charlie, who was sick, and would be going under the knife sometime this week. Hopefully he is well. Why is gas in Austin 20 cents cheaper than it is in Dallas? Again, there's many reasons to like about Austin (except for traffic, that would drive me nuts). After that, it was back to the road, and a few hours later we were back in the Metroplex, much to the joy of Joey, who was glad to see us.
9x9x9 is a show that's kind of searching out for what it wants to be. Yes, it's a comedy, but what kind of comedy? Is it slapstick or metaphorical or a sit-com? Perhaps it wants to be a great drawing room comedy, and in some elements it is, taking elements of miscommunication and misdirection and fusing them with less of a comedy of manners, but a comedy of disfunction.
The show is about Vicki who comes back to her parent's beach house, and while the family is a mess, with an impending divorce and the father sleeping with one of her school friends. None of this matters however, as Vicki is given a mysterious square, black box that contains a power that many people are willing to die for.
I'll admit that it's hard to give a review of this work as someone who would come into the theater seeing a new work without prior knowledge of the premise or the author. Both colored my judgement on how successful the show was. I couldn't help wondering if the play came to the Coda Project unfinished, because certain things just didn't add up.
For example, the play, or the actors couldn't quite agree on how many bodies were in the closet. Yes, one of the best jokes was the Pizza Boy, who is shot early in the show, is often moved around, but is also brought back from the dead-several times. He's hidden in the closet, but so are three or four other bodies and the count increases (thought the parents never seem to know), but in scenes after the others are dropped in, it's only the Pizza Boy that seems to remain there the whole show. Even the actor's lines can't seem to recall the correct count.
Scenes don't flow, either, as witnessed by the father calling for a family meeting one moment, and then three other scenes occur before the meeting is actually convened. Sometimes characters come in and out of the house with little reason, and even less explanation. The FBI agent appears, is defeated, and is never seen nor discussed again.
One thing I couldn't stop doing was placing Randy's posts about his parents as my guidelines for what the Kennedy and Lisbeth characters would be like. I think there were many jokes in the script that really weren't brought to the forefront because the actors didn't really understand Randy's humor and style. The character's could have been played much more broadly (or wooden, as I would think the father would be), and could have added to the fun in dysfunctional.
This is where Kate, as Lenore comes in. She nailed it, both physically, playing up the pratfalls and broad comedy, and putting the right spin on the character's words. Working with Randy for several years now, I'm sure she, of all the actors, could find the right note.
However, I am not sure who Donavan is supposed to be, he's the protagonist's brother, and is an innocent, but is he a child, a mentally deficient character, or both? Still, the actor handled the physical comedy very well.
It's my opinion that the play needs some tightening, and a few checks to make sure all of the elements flow logically. Writing a comedy that includes slamming doors a device that must be carefully watched by the audience as it passes from hand to hand, and as many characters that need to show their motivations as there are those that hide them is difficult.
Most likely it's even more difficult getting from where the playwright sees the play in his mind to the point where a director and company work on interpreting it in real life with all of the limitations that there are in small theater.
There's laughs, and lots of chuckles, but it still seems like the polish needs to be applied before another attempt at this work. Still, I enjoyed it, and loved the concept still, i just see more possibilities, including, hey, can the box do any other tricks? the concept doesn't seem to cross anyone's mind. Those little gaps seem to nag.
(In speaking with Kate at the show, we talked about some of these issues, and that they had many logistical challenges. She also asked me to write a fair review, which I hope I did.)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-05-04 05:49 am (UTC)I'm a mite shellshocked by this review. It doesn't sound like you saw the play I wrote at all.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-05 12:57 pm (UTC)As for the Dad character, I know he's supposed to be rather robotic and unfeeling, but why, in an off stage bout of passion, does he decide that the box should be used to kill his wife? He never seems to be that troubled since he's got all the nookie he wants? Does Lenore manipulate him into this? Could we see that conversation? I'd also like to see the moment of discovery for him, since it was off stage.
I think it would also help if Vicki was more of the voice of the audience, asking more questions, being exposition gal. Maybe we'd connect and root for her more if we felt more of what she feels. There's many questions, but only some answers. while i understand that she's the morality and the center point, I just didn't think we as an audience connected there.
As for Pizza Boy, Minnie and Donovan, they did well. And the FBI agent didn't have a name. Perhaps they split the character into two and made her separate from McCartney?
no subject
Date: 2006-05-04 06:37 am (UTC)Alas, I think it would have been fun to actually get together and do something. Perhaps another time... :)
no subject
Date: 2006-05-05 12:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-04 03:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-05 12:58 pm (UTC)We'll catch you when you're here in Dallas!