lhmustgoon

Review of //Must Go On (3 1/2 pages in Microsoft Word)//
The unconventional and innovative show //Must Go On// takes an approach to theater that I have never seen before. I think that the idea of having a show take place live and on camera simultaneously is an ingenious concept and provides a new dimension to theater that exponentially increases the stage dynamics. That being said, I think that because the concept was so new, the director and actors had a difficult time executing the play. There were several moments during the play in which I was terribly confused and the story was lost on me due to the sheer number of separate scenes occurring simultaneously. I also believe that, had the script been written in a more concise manner, it could have avoided redundant scenes and moved the action along at a better pace. Overall, a good concept for a play, but there were several problems with the execution and script that would need to be resolved before another director would pick it up.

The highlight of this play, in my opinion, was the set. The details were phenomenal; I particularly appreciated the “On Air” signs that lit up during the appropriate scenes and the intricate features of the main room, such as the gold trimmings running along the back wall. I thought that this attention to detail made for a truly realistic feel to the main set and, aside from the fact that the make-up room was in the waiting area, I might have believed that the room were truly in a television studio. The notion of two television sets—one to show the live action in the other room and one to show the “actual newscast,” commercials and all—was a nice touch as it constantly reminded the audience of the premise, while simultaneously allowing us to see the news room even during “commercial breaks.” Furthermore, I thought that the contrast between the lighting in the studio as compared to the make-up and waiting room added a sense of reality in that the studio’s lighting was much more harsh as an actual studio’s lighting would be. Overall, I found the set and lighting to be the strong point of the play and was very impressed by the concepts behind these aspects.

I thought that each character was cast very well, his or her part fitting like a glove. Jessica Kovalski, the actress who played Gwen, could have had a bit more confidence to make her role more believable, but it is understandable that she would feel a bit uncomfortable in clothes that she obviously would not wear under normal circumstances. Benjamin Davis was spot on in his portrayal of Brick, the misogynistic party-guy; Suzanne Zoller truly made me believe that she was as ditsy and free with her sexuality as her character, Brooke; Cole Earnest, pulled off his fake Australian accent very well; Nathan Cowling seemed born to play his part as the catty, irresponsible gay make-up artist, Sam; and almost every other character played his or her role in a similarly convincing way. I felt that, at times, the actors may have gotten a bit too carried away with their parts such as when Sam and Phyllis were fighting or when Io ordered strictly ordered around the other characters on stage, but that their roles were well-performed overall.

As was the case with Gwen’s outfit, the costumes for //Must Go On// were a bit absurd. Their absurdity, however, was intentional and carried out a very important purpose in the play. The characters who appeared on camera wore very flashy clothing with sequins, jewels, bright colors, sparkles, or other qualities designed to catch the eye. In contrast with the off-camera characters such as Ruby and Phil, who wore very plain clothes, they stood out and automatically attracted more attention from the audience. This allowed the audience to more easily distinguish between characters and helped to stereotype them. The director’s intention was to create character depth with stereotypes so that the audience might connect with and understand the characters without much background information. Personally, I believe that the costume designers conceived of the perfect outfits to achieve this goal.

With such a fantastic concept, talented actors, and a well-executed set, I can only imagine that the script was this play’s downfall. As I have previously mentioned, parts of the script were quite repetitive. I thought that it took Sam far too much time and far too many repetitions of his question for Brooke to explain that the studio was shutting down. It almost seemed that the script was stalling for the sole purpose of lengthening the play and that the time used on this one question could have been better used by developing other aspects of the story such as the characters’ backgrounds. New ideas seemed to be carelessly tossed into the script as though they were afterthoughts, especially the resolution of the play. A simple announcement that the studio is not shutting down after all due to the antics of one day was a bit anticlimactic. I also felt that all of the minor story lines such as Brooke and Ruby’s love, the escape and capture of the possums, Bill’s entire role in the play, and the chef who cooked with beer, were tossed in without much development and detracted from the play more than they added to the play. True, these story lines were necessary to create a play of any acceptable length and to keep the audience’s attention, but they seemed like distractions that caused confusion because of the haphazard way they were incorporated. These plots needed to be tied into the heart of the play more, perhaps by showing that the minor characters were invested in the survival of the news show. However the playwright chooses to do it, these characters needed to be more involved in the central theme of the show. Overall, //Must Go On// is an entertaining show with an original idea behind it. The set of this particular show was well imagined and constructed; the cast was very capable and creative; and the costumes fit each character’s personality and role perfectly. Before this play can be considered up to the standard necessary to be a widely spread success, however, the script needs some serious reworking. The main story line requires less lines and the peripheral story lines should be given more depth and tied into the main plot more. After these changes are made, I think that directors would be wise to choose this show to demonstrate a multifaceted view of theater that incorporates new media as it would challenge them to literally think outside the box.