The Play That Goes Wrong at CPT

I have attended productions of The Play That Goes Wrong at PTC and HCT and, since it is one of the funniest shows I've ever seen, I was really looking forward to Centerpoint Theatre's version last night. I started laughing before the show even began because the sound and lighting technician was searching the audience for a missing dog and I don't think I stopped until the cast had to manually close the curtain at the end. The titular play that goes wrong is the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society's production of The Murder at Haversham Manor by Susie H. K. Bridewell. The cast includes Max (Tyler Clawson) as Cecil Haversham/ Arthur the Gardener, Chris (Michael Gardner) as Inspector Carter, Jonathan (Blake London) as Charles Haversham, Robert (Dylan Padilla) as Thomas Colleymore, Dennis (Mitchell Gibb) as Perkins the Butler, and Sandra (Niki Waite Padilla) as Florence Colleymore. The Director is Chris, the Stage Manager is Annie (Jenni Cooper), and the Sound and Lighting Director is Trevor (Jacob Sommer). The set is slowly falling apart, the props malfunction or go missing, the sound designer accidentally plays Duran Duran instead of the sound cues, the aforementioned missing dog is never found, one actor cannot stay still while playing the murder victim, one actor cannot remember his lines, one actor constantly breaks the fourth wall to milk the audience for applause, and the leading lady is injured halfway through the show and must be replaced first with Annie and then with Trevor (with scripts in hand) but the show must go on! The physical comedy is absolutely hilarious! My favorite scenes were when Cecil and Thomas have to answer a phone call with their hands full, when Sandra and Annie have a long and drawn out fight for the chance to play Florence, when Cecil and Thomas have a sword fight with broken swords, and when Arthur the Gardner and Trevor (who is playing Florence) have an awkward kiss. The cast is one of the best I have seen at CPT and they all have superb comedic timing but I especially enjoyed Gibb because of his facial expressions. The set is also one of the best I have seen at CPT because it falls apart so spectacularly, particularly the second floor study which is the source of much physical comedy. I highly recommend this show because watching this play fall apart is the perfect distraction from a world that seems to be falling apart. It runs on the Barlow Main Stage through February 12 (go here for tickets).

Note:  Since I've seen this play performed by three different theatre companies in as many years, it was really fun for me to notice the subtle differences in the productions. I particularly enjoyed the different ways a fire was staged.

Scream

Last night my plans were unexpectedly canceled so I decided to see Scream instead.  I had initially been on the fence about seeing it because I am just a casual fan of the franchise but I have to admit that I had a blast with this latest installment!  Twenty-five years after the original murders in Woodsboro, someone wearing the Ghostface mask is once again terrorizing a new group of teens.  After her sister Tara (Jenna Ortega) survives an attack, Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) returns to Woodsboro with her boyfriend Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid) and reveals that she is the biological daughter of the original killer Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich).  After subsequent attacks, she realizes that the victims all have a connection to the original killers so she contacts Dewey Riley (David Arquette) for help.  He then notifies Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and the three of them come to suspect Tara's group of friends, including Chad Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding), Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown), Amber Freeman (Mikey Madison), and Liv McKenzie (Sonia Ben Ammar), because that is the formula used in the Stab movies based on events in Woodsboro.  Of course this leads to an epic, and very bloody, conclusion revealing the identities of the killers!  I absolutely loved how meta this movie is about the horror genre and the discussion that Tara has with Ghostface over the phone about the elevated horror found in The Babadook, Hereditary, and The Witch had me laughing out loud (because I love those movies).  I also found the motivation for the killings to be incredibly clever and a spot-on reflection of movie culture today (unfortunately).  Arquette, Campbell, and Cox each have a poignant moment as legacy characters but I really appreciated the fact that they play a secondary role in the plot and that the young cast is allowed to shine (I especially enjoyed Ortega and Barrera).  The kills are absolutely brutal and there were a few moments when I actually jumped in my seat.  I correctly guessed the identity of one of the killers fairly early on (I followed the formula used in the Stab movies) but I enjoyed this movie so much more than I was expecting.  I suspect that hard-core fans of the franchise will love it!

Belle

I am not a huge fan of Japanese anime, mostly because I haven't seen very much of it, but I found the trailer for Belle to be absolutely beautiful so I went to see it last night.  It is a modern retelling of the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast and I loved it!  Suzu (Kaho Nakamura) is a quiet and mousy high school student who is still mourning the loss of her mother who died saving the life of a drowning child.  She used to enjoy singing and writing songs with her mother but, since her death, she has lost her love of music.  Her friend Hiro (Lilas Ikuta) encourages her to join a virtual world known as "U" because she can be completely anonymous there.  She is able to channel all of her emotions into writing songs and performing them as her avatar Belle and she becomes very popular until an avatar known as Dragon (Takeru Satoh) interrupts her performance.  A vigilante group, let by Justin (Toshiyuki Morikawa), wants to unveil him (reveal his identity) but Belle is drawn to the pain she sees in him and wants to protect him.  When she and Hiro locate Dragon in the analog world, she realizes that she must reveal her true identity to him in the digital world in order to reach him.  There are so many themes explored in this movie but the one I especially enjoyed is that it is better to be your true self than to hide behind a persona.  This is a theme that really resonates with me (go here, here, and here) and it is portrayed so beautifully when Suzu sings a song in U as herself and Belle's millions of fans support her by singing along with her.  This moment literally took my breath away!  I also enjoyed it when Suzu uses her newly acquired confidence to stand up to some cyberbullies who are harassing her for her friendship with Shinobu (Ryo Narita), the most popular boy at school, and to approach Ruka (Tina Tamashiro), the most popular girl at school.  This suggests that the online world is not necessarily such a bad place because being Belle has helped Suzu find her voice in more ways than one.  Finally, I loved that Suzu's decision to find Kei (the boy using the Dragon avatar) helps her to understand her mother's actions and make peace with her death.  The animation is dazzling (I especially loved all of the fantastical creatures in the virtual world and the ballroom in Dragon's castle where he and Belle have their iconic dance) and the music is incredible (especially "Lend Me Your Voice").  I loved this movie so much and I highly recommend it!

Note:  I saw the subtitled version (which I tend to enjoy more) but there is also an English dubbed version.

Reckless Girls

I enjoyed the Book of the Month so much I decided to renew my subscription again this year. My January selection was Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins (the other options were Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson, Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly, Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho, and The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis). I enjoyed The Wife Upstairs (a contemporary retelling of Jane Eyre) by Hawkins so I was really looking forward to this selection. Lux McAllister was at loose ends and working as a waitress in San Diego after dropping out of college to care for her dying mother when she met a wealthy and charming playboy named Nico Johannsen. He planned on sailing around the world on his boat, the Susannah, and she impulsively followed him to Hawaii to join him on his voyage. However, things don't work out as planned and she is now stuck working as a housekeeper at a resort hotel while he makes desultory attempts to repair his damaged boat. Their luck seems to change when they meet two college students named Brittany and Amma who want to hire Nico to take them to Meroe Island, a mysterious and deserted atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a grisly past. The $50,000 they are offering will repair the boat and allow them to resume their journey so Nico accepts and Lux, who is dying for an adventure, comes along. When they arrive at the island, they are dismayed to see a catamaran anchored in the harbor belonging to a wealthy Australian couple named Jake and Eliza. They all eventually become friends, especially after the four of them partake of the food and wine offered by Jake on his luxurious boat, and they enjoy their time in paradise. Soon they are joined by a mysterious stranger and the tension mounts as the island becomes less and less hospitable and secrets about each of them are revealed. The narrative alternates between Before, when each character's backstory and motivations are slowly revealed, and After, when the events on the island take place. There are also articles and interviews pertaining to the history of Meroe Island interspersed throughout which add to the foreboding atmosphere and sense of unease. Most of the characters are unsympathetic, including the main narrator Lux, but they are compelling and I was definitely invested in finding out what happens to them. Some elements of the plot do require the suspension of disbelief but I enjoyed it for all of the twists and turns and I appreciated the commentary on class and gender. I would definitely recommend this to fans of thrillers with the proviso that there is quite a bit of profanity (which, in my opinion, is used for shock value rather than character development).

A Hero

Last night I went back to the Broadway to see A Hero, another independent foreign film on my list, and I found it to be incredibly compelling and thought-provoking.  Rahim (Amir Jadidi) has been in debtors' prison in Iran for several years after being unable to repay a loan.  His girlfriend Farkhondeh (Sahar Goldust) found a purse full of gold coins at a bus stop and wants him to use them to pay back his creditor Bahram (Mohsen Tanabandeh).  He is allowed two days leave from prison and attempts to sell the gold coins but, because of fluctuating prices, it isn't enough to pay the entire debt and he doesn't have anyone to provide a guarantee for the remaining balance.  He starts to have second thoughts and decides to find the owner of the purse and return it.  When the administrators of the prison learn about what he has done, they contact the media to interview him for a human interest story because they need some good publicity and he becomes a celebrity of sorts.  He is given leave from prison again, a charity raises money to help him pay back the debt, and the local council offers him a job.  However, several minor inconsistencies in the story come to light which threaten to turn public opinion against him and things quickly spiral out of control.  I found the character of Bahram to be the most fascinating because he is viewed as the villain of the story just for wanting what is rightfully his and questions why Rahim is being celebrated for simply doing the right thing.  I also really enjoyed the moral ambiguity surrounding all of Rahim's actions because he often does the right thing but for the wrong reasons and it made me think about what I would do if faced with a similar situation.  I think the emphasis on social media is really interesting because it gives an exaggerated view of both Rahim's heroism and duplicity and it shows how easy it is to change public opinion with a rumor.  Jadidi is incredibly appealing in this role and he is somehow very sympathetic even when Rahim makes one bad decision after another.   This is a simple story with complex themes and I highly recommend it.