kapAUNTDANANDLEMON

Kara Ponder

Aunt Dan and Lemon

Positive

1. The scene I liked the most was the scene where Mindy killed Raimondo. The image of her looking forward trying to ignore what she was doing bathed in red light created a sense of terror about what she was doing. Before the act of killing him the audience was laughing and thought it was all a joke, but the then harsh reality dawned on them and they had to share the horror of her carelessly discarding the body.

2. There was an effective use of light. The red light during Mindy’s killing scene, the appearance of only lamp light on Lemon when she was in her chair, and the lighting and dimming of the main part of the stage during the times it was in use and not in use to create emphasis. Also, the over head light on Lemon at the end of the play created a surreal image of her as she talked about killing making a deeper impact.

3. With such a low budget for the play, the padded table seemed perfect to accompany all the different scenes in the play. It made for a table during the picnic, at dinner, and at the restaurant, but because it was padded it was easily transformed into a bed for the scenes in Lemon’s house, Andy’s apartment, and Raimondo’s apartment.

4. The way sound was used supported the play without overwhelming the actions on stage. The music during the scene at the restaurant with Freddie and Mindy was a good compliment to the flirty interaction that was happening on stage.

5. The actors were able to make the personal scenes seem natural. Two of the actors kissed in Andy’s apartment and Aunt Dan was in underwear and a robe. Mindy got undressed and then undressed Raimondo. It takes courage to stand in front of people like that and they were very professional about it.

Negative

1. The worse thing about this play was the audience. As soon as the play started everyone began fidgeting and squirming. There was a symphony of squeaking chairs though out the performance that I never heard during any of the other plays.

2. Chelsey Horn had a hard role to play as mother. She had to take verbal assaults not only from her husband but also from Aunt Dan, which was acted well. However, her British accent was annoying. Whenever she spoke it sounded unnatural and very forced.

3. When Aunt Dan started ranting about Henry Kissinger to Lemon’s mother, she started looking crazy. The whole rant seemed awkward because she barely looked Lemon’s mother in the eye and when people are making points that is what they do for emphasis. Then Aunt Dan got up and started preaching to the audience, which was unnerving because her eyes got really big and frightening and made the scene somehow comical.

4. The plot of the play did not seem to go anywhere. Lemon was in no way changed throughout the play. The stories were just something fun to listen to, but the only thing that connected her stories with Lemon was the killing of Raimondo, which went back to Lemon’s conclusion that all humans want to kill. Since I read the play before I saw it, the mystery was removed from a play where nothing really happens, so even though it was well done, I was bored at times.

5. The one costume that did not make sense was Aunt Dan’s. Her hat and shirt were fine, but the little jacket and long skirt took away from her personality. It portrayed her as more conservative than her wild experiences would suggest. From the play, Aunt Dan seemed like a woman who was effortlessly sexy with her stories of Jeffery the professor, Andy, and Mindy, but her hair and ensemble did not give me that impression.