Jason's Show
Jul. 12th, 2004 10:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ceebeegeeYesterday I woke up around 11:45 (I have been getting in the very bad habit of sleeping quite late--it's a show habit, prompted by lots of going out after performances). I dawdled in front of the computer for awhile and eventually realized that Jason's matinee was today (Sunday), not Saturday, so if I hurried I could make it. I took a taxi downtown (the theater was just south of Chinatown), called Duncan to let him know I was coming, and got there just a few minutes into the prologue.
The play was a long and self-indulgent allegory about 9/11. There was some interesting stuff there in the first section, some very specific stuff about how people first reacted. Jason had some good scenes where he played a kid whose brother was a bike messenger who went missing. I got annoyed at the director during Jason's scene though--Jason is a good actor, very talented with great instincts and extremely directable, and it was clear he lacked guidance in that scene. The enormity of 9/11 is a difficult thing to portray as an actor, even for those of us who were there, and the even greater enormity of playing someone who lost an close family member is that much harder. There are so many layers through which to guide the actor--denial mode, and "practical mode," and obsessing about details mode. I felt annoyed on Jason's behalf, seeing his talent not being well-served.
That said, the director didn't do a bad job of staging the show. Some of the staging was quite ingenious, especially in the second act. But again I got very frustrated with the director for casting so poorly--apparently the main requirement for the show was to have attended Rutgers. Jason and one other cast member aside, the cast was unexceptional, and one actor was awful. Naturally he had a long monologue at the end of the play--I hated his acting at that point, and had to restrain myself from yelling "Get off the stage!" a la Zack from A Chorus Line. I literally didn't know where to look--because I just didn't want to watch him, but I thought it would be rude to look away, so I compromised by blurring my eyesight to look at him. Ugh. He was just. So. Bad.
I liked the space very much, though. It's a big airy space with white walls--I told Duncan he should stage Eternity Without End there.
After the show, Jason, Duncan and I went out to get bubble tea (mmm...). I'd intended to go to church after the show but it lasted long enough that I wouldn't have been able to get there in time, and I figured, I can go to church tomorrow or Tuesday--I don't get to hang out with Jason every day. We deconstructed the show endlessly--bottom line, Jason has nothing to be ashamed of and was in fact one of the best things about the production.
The play was a long and self-indulgent allegory about 9/11. There was some interesting stuff there in the first section, some very specific stuff about how people first reacted. Jason had some good scenes where he played a kid whose brother was a bike messenger who went missing. I got annoyed at the director during Jason's scene though--Jason is a good actor, very talented with great instincts and extremely directable, and it was clear he lacked guidance in that scene. The enormity of 9/11 is a difficult thing to portray as an actor, even for those of us who were there, and the even greater enormity of playing someone who lost an close family member is that much harder. There are so many layers through which to guide the actor--denial mode, and "practical mode," and obsessing about details mode. I felt annoyed on Jason's behalf, seeing his talent not being well-served.
That said, the director didn't do a bad job of staging the show. Some of the staging was quite ingenious, especially in the second act. But again I got very frustrated with the director for casting so poorly--apparently the main requirement for the show was to have attended Rutgers. Jason and one other cast member aside, the cast was unexceptional, and one actor was awful. Naturally he had a long monologue at the end of the play--I hated his acting at that point, and had to restrain myself from yelling "Get off the stage!" a la Zack from A Chorus Line. I literally didn't know where to look--because I just didn't want to watch him, but I thought it would be rude to look away, so I compromised by blurring my eyesight to look at him. Ugh. He was just. So. Bad.
I liked the space very much, though. It's a big airy space with white walls--I told Duncan he should stage Eternity Without End there.
After the show, Jason, Duncan and I went out to get bubble tea (mmm...). I'd intended to go to church after the show but it lasted long enough that I wouldn't have been able to get there in time, and I figured, I can go to church tomorrow or Tuesday--I don't get to hang out with Jason every day. We deconstructed the show endlessly--bottom line, Jason has nothing to be ashamed of and was in fact one of the best things about the production.
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no subject
Date: 2004-07-12 10:05 am (UTC)One of these days he's going to listen to you or me when we say that.
So how about we take turns after each show? Sound good?