Vanya+and+Sonia+and+Masha+and+Spike+Critique+by+Robert+Rawls

1. What is the play about? Answer in a brief sentence. The play //Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike// is a comedy on the nature of sibling relations and feelings of an unfulfilled with life as one gets older.

2. How well has the author told his story? The author Christopher Durang told this story of three siblings clashing over their different expectations of life in a clever and witty style. The dialog was well conceived, as the message was clear, but was not over bearing in the plot. On the plot, the play moved at a quick pace which was good for the singular location of the house.

3. Does the subject matter seem worth while to you? I respect the central themes of the play. As I get older, the questions of hove I spent my life well becomes more prominent and more difficult to answer. Also, I thought that the way the siblings interacted reminded me of how I get along with my own brother. So seeing the characters on the stage express ad struggle with these themes was resonate with me.

4. Have the actors, supporting players as well as stars, successfully conveyed to you the author’s intent? The actors conveyed the emotionality of the play quite well. A few instances of stumbling over the faster paced dialog did accrued, but to the credit of the actors, they quickly caught themselves, and corrected their mistakes without much impact to their respective performances.

5. Is the physical production realistic or imaginative? Would you say that it is inadequate, good, or superb? Why or why not? (be specific) The set was a superb example of a more realistic style. Detail fills the stage to make it feel as if a room of a house that has been lived in was cut out and placed on stage. Old posters adorned the walls, books filled up the shelves and a fireplace painted to look well used bring those feelings. he lighting was well done. To give a sense of time, they would brighten as the day progressed. Also the lights changed brightens to include or exclude the characters as was necessary to the scene. The only issue I saw with the set was that the front stage right door continuously failed to close during the production, and as actors used that door with some frequency, it could be a bit distracting.

6. How did the audience seem to respond to the play? How much were you influenced by the comments of people in the lobby between the acts? The audience seemed to enjoy the play. Laughing at the witty jabs characters would throw at each other. I did not leave the theatre during the intermission, instead, choosing to read the production notes at that time. Those notes did influence my attentiveness to the set during the second half of the play.

7. Could you, without reading any reviews, urge your friends to see the play? Do you take the trouble to do this after seeing a play you like? After viewing this play, I could give a stronge recogmendation to see this production based on the strength of the play's writing and the dedication of the actors preforming the play. I will let others know that I had seen a play I liked, and explain what I thought about it.

8. Would your interest in a given play lead you to search out and read other plays by the same author? For me personally, only after encountering a small number of works by an author do I form an opinion on that author; and if I enjoyed those works do I seek more out.