A fantastic first performance. Everybody very pleased. The audience gave the show a standing ovation, and thunderous applause went on for over a minute after the actors had finished their bows.
Stage Manager notes: "Moments the audience really liked: the no hanger situation, Bo showing his boxers!!!, Mr. Jenkins going to hell, The Gloria Hattersfield story, The getting of the Cola, The Cola Push!!!, Gettsyburg, Cutlery!!!, The Wedding Fish!!!"
2 notes for the actors.
1 props note (a cola cap was on too tight - adjust for preset)
1 costume note (approval for the boxer shorts!)
Running time: 1 hour, 10 minutes.
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2 comments:
Sweet Storm,
Saw it on this past Sat's matinee...lovely play..well acted and written..
Not a play you think a young writer would write today..almost something you would believe would have been found under Inge's or T. Williams papers, stuck in the back of an old drawer somewhere..
How refreshing to see and hear poetry spoken and written in a play..
Is there a 2nd act to it..there are a lot of unanswered questions..how did they meet?..why is she a paraplegic?...why is she attracted to him and vice versa??
While I think the actors did a very good job, and there were some nice moments in the play I think overall the structure of the story needed work. I kept asking myself, "Why is this story being told?" "What is the heart of this piece?"
There were many problems which were presented but never fully developed. Some of these included: the fact that the newly married couple didn't have a proper wedding and reception and Ruthie was obviously upset by this; Ruthie thought her and her husband were moving to Clearwater so he could preach; Ruthie's inability to walk and subsequent loss of faith; Ruthie's fears of how loss might impact her marriage to her husband, a preacher.
These problems were never fully realized in the piece. What do these characters have to say? Why are we watching them say it?
One theme that I felt was most intriguing was the fact that Ruthie was still grieving over the loss of her legs, along with the fact that she (seemingly)lost her faith as a result. If this was the heart of the piece, I would have liked to seen more scenes about this struggle she was having and what that meant to their relationship.
I felt the play was most alive when the characters were actively engaging with one another. Instead, I felt there were too many
narrative monologues about events and people that I wasn't much interested in. These narrative monologues should support the story and drive the action forward.
I wasn't quite sure why some stories were being told by Bo. For example, when he was describing when he and Ruthie first met - it was a lovely story, but I didn't understand why he was telling it. Was he detecting aloofness in Ruthie and was trying to spark romance in her once again? Was he trying to solace her? As it was: most monologues just seemed to be tangents with no discernable connection to the greater story.
I thought the opening started with a lot of energy and was going at a nice clip - then once he sat her down on the bed, it seemed that the intention and energy of the scene just dropped. I felt that that very first beat of the scene had to present the audience with a problem.
Perhaps you could start the scene with the announcement from the radio saying their is a hurricane coming. Why was this at the end? Why would that couple stay in the tree house after hearing they were, in essence, going to be killed by staying there?
Or perhaps the very first beat of the scene could be the dialogue in which Ruthie is describing that she "doesn't know how much excitement I can take." I then think you could go into the scene about Ruthie in remorse over the fact they didn't have a proper wedding and reception.
Of course, her talking about all those things have nothing to do with her disappointment in the wedding - but to do with the loss of her faith (if indeed this is the heart of the piece).
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