Theatre--Review

If Laurel and Hardy had met as Ph.D. students in Theatre, Waiting For Godot is the play they would have written. It's grad student philosophy married to vaudeville shtick. But it's like candy-coated medicine; the candy doesn't always disguise the taste.

Blaine Peltier and several students from the Arts Academy had a go at Godot this past weekend with favorable results. The set was nicely executed--just a rock, a withered tree and a sun/moon in the sky. The action extended out into the audience area as well. Costumes and makeup were mostly successful. Pozzo's mime makeup was a good touch and made the actress' face very easy to read. Lucky's makeup had somewhat the effect of a zombie movie but worked well for the character. I'm not so sure about the decision to make the boy, who herds goats, into a girl who appears to be a summer camp counselor. It was as if Marcia Brady had been asked to do someone a favor.

Lighting is a serious problem at the NP Moss Annex. Mr. Peltier is forced to eke out what he can from approximately the same number of lights as you find on a VW. As a consequence, some important action and dialogue is necessarily rendered in light which is dimmer than my cousin, Ed. Patrons looking to do a good deed for the local theatre community might want to help out with a contribution for improved lighting for this program. Mr. Peltier and his students have earned it. While we're at it--padding for the wooden seats would be high on the wish list of anyone whose legs have gone to sleep while watching a production in the auditorium.

David Hubyn and Hendrick Mattyson had a nice chemistry as Vladimir and Estragon, the two tramps who quarrel, make up and wait for someone who will never arrive. Jamie Pittman gave an energetic performance as Pozzo, the Everyman of the play. Angie Jaramillo was a distinctly sinister Lucky, Pozzo's living Shadow. As the Boy, Amanda Bonnette was like a sunbeam on an overcast day.

The actors were committed and energetic and all had excellent projection. Unfortunately, the Annex is a difficult space acoustically. It is echoey and if one sits at any distance from the stage the echoes begin to overlap the words. Young people often speak very rapidly and the result is that sound becomes a jumble by the middle of the auditorium. This may be less a problem in the first two or three rows but where I sat most of the dialogue could have been Romanian. Under the circumstances, the actors would have benefited from a greater emphasis on the kinds of business which would demonstrate the text or replace it altogether. Mr. Peltier's stage picture was always well-focused but, in the absence of clear dialogue, the actions of the characters could sometimes seem a bit random and forced. It was a bit like math class; I knew where the professor was--just not what he was doing.

Choosing a play is a lot more difficult than most people realize. Producers must find a play which has both artistic and commercial merit and which showcases the talent available to you. Furthermore, it must be done on a budget, which at the Arts Academy means the spare change under the sofa cushions. Mr. Peltier and his cast have made the most of their resources but they are mendicants who live on the kindness of strangers. Perhaps those strangers would be more numerous and more generous if they were presented with plays that had a bit more entertainment value and a bit less literary cachet. Just a thought....

Unfortunately, I could only stay for the first act of this production due to scheduling conflicts but even so I saw enough to say "Congratulations" to Mr. Peltier and his cast for a creditable production of a VERY difficult play.

----Walter Brown