BOOM, Theatre Vertigo

Playwright:   Peter Sinn Nachtrieb       
Directed by:   Joann Johnson

Jo  .....   played by Brooke Fletcher
Jules  .....  played by J.R. Wickman
Barbara  .....  played by Heather Rose Walters
Theater website:  Theatre Vertigo

sez says: Nachtrieb writes funny stuff --both make-you-laugh funny and funny/odd.  This is, in my book, a good thing.  He is interested in humanity from the perspective of  'geological time' and he wonders where we fit in the universe. Given this viewpoint human existence is no more than a fast passing blip in time. That seems to make us funny creatures to him. Funny how we take ourselves seriously.  Funny for what we care about (ie the list of things the journalist must not write about).. Funny at how we try and mask and or display our most basic functions: the primal drive to obtain food and to procreate.  Funny that we take ourselves seriously at all. He is facile in his use of language so he can demonstrate our various absurdities with uproarious one-liners. He is thoughtful and fun. Lucky for us he is writing plays.

Now, about this production.  The set was weak. It could have been made to look like a basement with, say some cinder blocks painted on the wall.  It need to seem more cramped.  Also the fish tank, sitting front and center, did not work.  It was too low and it only really showed up when it was the only thing lit on stage.  It would have been better in a wall, at eye level, where it could have been contemplated.  The control booth was fine--but the basement did not have the feel of a confined space in which two mis-matched people had to find a way to co-exist.  The acting was overall good.  Everyone got into their roles.  But no one was brilliant.  Overall fun to see. Again Vertigo has picked a good one!

GRADE: C+ 

mjc says:  my expectations were heightened after a reading of the author's Play Hunter/Gatherers earlier in the month, so I was a bit disappointed.  I would have liked more energy from the players and the whole effort needed more umph.  Nevertheless, I appreciated the Theater's choice of the play and would definitely go to another Nachtrieb play, and of course, I am a growing supporter of Theatre Vertigo.  GRADE:  C