Athens Theatre

Thornton Wilder’s classic play Our Town opened at the Morton Theatre in downtown Athens last weekend, produced by University Theatre. The play illustrates life in a small American town around a hundred years ago by taking the audience through three days in three acts. The story is a good one and runs about two hours with two 10 minute intermissions between acts.

While the story is good and the production quality was good, I can’t say that this is one of University Theatre’s must-see shows. Most of the actors did a wonderful job, though a few weak points on the part of newer performers did break the suspension of disbelief from time to time. UT seemed to put a good deal of effort into promoting the show, leading those I spoke to to believe that the set would be a little more…well, a little more, I guess. The set was well done, but just didn’t jive with initial expectations. As the show continued, though, the scenery did grow on me and, I must admit, that there was at least one moment in the third act that was quite striking.

Moving to other matters, lighting was good, apart from a few lower-brimmed hats that cast some unpleasant shadows, and that the blocking was fantastic, perfectly complementary to the sparse settings. Also, while I’m no expert on turn-of-the-century garb, the costume design seemed well done.

Not the mess that was The Man who Came to Dinner a good while back, the show is definitely worth checking out this Thursday through Sunday (11/13 - 11/16) at 8pm each day but Sunday (curtain-up at 2 30pm on Sunday). Cost is only $12 for students, $15 for everyone else.

Happy Theatregoing,

Dave H

PS - Apologies for the tardiness of this update, but it’s been a busy week. Check out the Help Wanted page if you think you can help us keep this stuff up-to-date.

The Pillowman’s graphic tales will strike you in a way few other things can, but the piece ultimately presents a hopeful tale, as hinted at in University Theatre’s program for this production. Details of the sort of hope and of the nature of the graphic details might spoil the show for you, if not the plot, so I can’t say too much more in that regard: you really need to see this show to understand what I mean, the experience cannot be well-summarised by review.

Being a studio production, the set and costumes were minimal, drawn from stock fixtures and individuals’ wardrobes. University Theatre has as a goal in these productions is to focus on the performance, a goal well-achieved by the exceptional performances of Brandon Wentz and Rob Glidden in particular, though all on stage did a great job.

Acting was definitely the driving force of this show and the use of the Japanese butoh style for the children, who speak no lines, definitely accentuated the disturbing nature of the tale. The choice of the neutral mask technique as a foundation for the remaining performances also seems to have paid off well.

Hurry now to catch this three-hour-long show’s final performance today at the Cellar Theatre at 2 30pm. Don’t worry, there are two intermissions and the show definitely warrants three hours: your attention will be well-held. Cost is only $7 for UGA students, $10 for everyone else, so get out there this afternoon for some unbelievable theatre.

University Theatre’s production of Tina Howe’s Museum opened last week and finishes its run tomorrow. Overall a pleasant experience, with good entertainment value, the show is good for a fun night out. Don’t, however, go because you’re looking for a piece with deep meaning to connect with your life. Or, perhaps, that is exactly the case in which you should attend: the play is accurately described by the cast and director as having no particular meaning, becoming whatever it is you wish it to be.

Throughout the show, I found myself perceiving a message, something about the snobbery of art or the metaphysical discussion of self that one sees so often (as the characters examine the art, are they seeing the art or seeing themselves). Perfectly poised on the third floor of a fictitious museum, the play begs this sort of questioning, but was I seeing some message from the director’s vision or peering into my own soul? Alright, that’s a little pretentious to propose, but there is some question as to the playwright’s intent with the piece and the actor’s portrayal thereof.

Whatever the message, the energy was fantastic, allowing the actors to play and the audience to sit back and be entertained. This show, farcical in nature, requires over-the-top caricatures more than finely-tuned characters to do a good job.

Essential to the farce, of course, is the space, and a wide-open set provided plenty of it for the big movements of some (okay, many) scenes. Walking in at the start of the show, the set looks to be a bit of a let-down, particularly because of the slapped-together appearance of the art-pieces at first glance. As the play progresses, however, these pieces–caricatures just like the rest of the cast–adopt their own personas, with any initial “flaws” understood in a larger context.

Throughout the show, lighting was good, insofar as it went largely unnoticed. Usually probably offensive to the light designer, this statement is intended to do no harm: the play did not require an inordinate amount of creative lighting. One word to the wise, there is a strobe that goes off about half-way through the show, so you may want to prepare yourself. I personally found that the flashing sequence seemed to remain dark longer than light, making it difficult to enjoy the hilarity taking place on stage, but the overall effect was still enjoyed.

The creative costume design was pleasant and achieved its purpose in assisting with characterization and contrasting with the…beautiful paintings on the walls.

Museum plays again tonight (Sat 10/4) at 8pm and tomorrow (Sun 10/5) at 2 30pm. Admission is $12 for students and $15 for public adult tickets. For official info, check out the University Theatre calendar entry for Museum.