The Scene (Portland Playhouse) Grade B+

by Teresa Rebeck

directed by Tamara Fisch

cast:

Clea  .....  Nikki Weaver

Charlie  .....  Leif Norgy

Lewis  .....  Ty Hewitt

Stella  ,,,,,  Laura Faye-SMith

sez says: Bravo / Brava -- wonderful acting here! 

Nikki Weaver is marvelous in any role that requires physicality.  She moves and poses and stretches and  slinks and bends and presents a fully engaged presence when she is given a part that provides her an opportunity to use 'body language'.  When, in the end, she has to stand and deliver lines her oomph is diminished--but her character is still strong enough to take us to the conclusion of the play based on her earlier development of the character.  

Leif Weaver turns himself into Charlie--the man who will criticize "the party" --seeing how vapid it is --but who really only wants to be the one people are sucking up to.  His decline is well observed

Ty Hewitt has a smaller part but he does it well and is ever so likelable

Laura Faye-Smith also portrays to a "T" the good people that make "the party" possible: competent, precise, under appreciated but paid enough to support a family and who can live in  the aura of  those who are at the center of 'The Scene' --ie the dramatic arts, TV, the Stage, acting, the media. 

The play seems to say:  accept it, this is how it is, maybe in a different academic --or moral -- universe we would seek enlightenment and art for the betterment of humanity.  But the reality is different,  There is "a party" that goes on that requires 'ass licking' and 'selling out'  -- and that most people who complain about it are just people who wish they were at the top of the heap.