kfputnam

Khalil Farah Dr. Richardson Theater 2100 Tuesday, November 16 Positives 1) The parts of the script, which were added by the cast, were the most humorous of the play. The definitions of the words, as well as the way that they are used in the sentences were very funny. I was curious the entire time however as to if anyone was going to ask for the language of origin for any of the spelling words. I feel like that was a missed opportunity to make include a couple more jokes. 2) The set was conducive to the play in that it was out of the way and therefore only directed attention to the person who was standing at the microphone. The bleachers where the participants were sitting was to the side and the judges table was on the other side. With a play about a spelling bee, it was wise to keep any distracting furniture to the side. 3) The school councilor, who also served as the philosophical guide for the play was preformed well by the actor. In reading the play that character was forgettable but the actor who portrayed him did an excellent job of using facial gestures and other unscripted movements to give the persona a livelier attitude. Moreover, he used an improved walk style to further his persona as a paroled criminal. 4) The dancing scene was well done in that the girl and the guy used actually waltz moves in their choreography. It was not obvious that the characters were unaware of how to dance ballroom. Moreover, the dancing was sort of clumsy but this meshed well will the character’s insecurity that was exposed early in the play. 5) The use of the audience members in the play added to the entertainment. The audience members were put to the test with spelling words just like the contestants in the play and the difficulty that they have spelling the words illustrates the point of the play. The play talks about how futile the whole process is, especially with the song about how the best speller doesn’t always win. The play, therefore, comes off as a criticism on life and the pointlessness of expecting one to be able to do everything with only their ability. Society often has a way of preventing the hardest working or most talented from winning.  Negatives   1) The sound system was not put together well. I had trouble as an audience member hearing the singing of some of the characters. The microphones were placed in an awkward spot, on the foreheads of the major characters and this was a poor decision from the director. For a start, it confused me because there was a weird microphone hanging from their face and it looked awkward. In addition, its placement prevented it from picking up sound properly. I couldn’t understand why the director didn’t just put the microphone on the collar of the characters instead. 2) The songs were poorly written. I couldn’t really tell if it was that the play writer had little ability to put together a catchy tune or if the band was performing the songs wrong but I did not like the music. It was monotone and the chord progressions were not memorable. I feel like the play almost would have been better had there not been any music and it was just straight up made into a drama. 3) The costumes didn’t make any sense. The banner above the stage declared that the Putnam school had the mascot of the “platypuses” but for some reason they had the school councilor dressed in an elaborate bee costume. I had no idea where this bee came from or why it was in the play. This really threw me and it didn’t make sense as to why the director went for that costume. 4) There wasn’t an intermission in the play. For a play of its length I thought an intermission was necessary to allow the audience a chance to get up and walk around. I was very uncomfortable come the last scene because I had been sitting for hours. It would have helped to have had an intermission midway through to allow stretching of the legs. 5) In general, the play had a feel of a high school production. Maybe it was because it followed //Arabian Nights// which I felt was an excellent play but I never got the same feeling from this play. It may have been the combo of the previous factors but the play never had a strong presence, there was always something lacking.