tkridecritique

Taylor Keller Richmond THEA 2000 2 Feb 2017 A Long Christmas Ride Home Critique  With doing theater since I was in Kindergarten, I was ecstatic to see this production or any production that is here on campus. Although I am not a theater major or minor, I respect the art so much and have so much respect for other casts and crew because I know how much effort and time go into a production. This show was sop refreshing to see and once again put that little spark in me on how much I love live theater.  To start off, the actual theater was very pretty. I know they do not get a choice in how the theater/chapel looks, but I think they hosted in the perfect venue because it made it seem more intimate with such touchy subjects to have us up close and personal and able to see every detail the puppets and actors did. I am a big fan of abstract stages, so having no set furniture on stage always kept me engaged. With the moving car pieces and just everything on wheels, I had so much to look at. Sometimes I wish the screens were situated a little differently because I could see the backstage crew the whole time. Oh that reminds me: the projector screens really enhanced the whole production so much. Having them reflect the feelings and inner demons of the characters helped you to grasp on to the plot and overall tone of the production. With the venue, moving set, and projection, I think the set was very matched with the play.  As far as casting, I think it was very well casted as well. Although they were all college students, the parents portrayed themselves in a more mature manor which allowed the audience to believe they were older. As far as the 3 kids, it totally took me back that the actual puppeteers were going to play them as the character. I had never seen this show so I thought the puppets were going to be on stage the whole time. I give kudos for them always moving the puppets appropriately and constantly when they were on stage. Sometimes I forgot that they were puppets. I enjoyed the 3 monologues from the siblings because of all the passion portrayed on stage. One thing I wish could have happened was distinct the 2 daughters. I felt like as puppets their characters were very separate and unique, but when they broke out as humans I would mush them together because they used similar gestures as well as vocal strategies within their monologues. Overall, it was casted very well and they played the intenseness of topics to a tee.  As far as the clothing, I thought the simplicity was brilliant. With such a play with so many important topics, ultimately the clothing will not be looked at very much. Keeping it very simple with every day clothes and pops of colors that match their puppet allowed the audience to distinguish between characters, but also focus on the compelling dialogue. . I was confused at the beginning of the play with the Japanese music playing, but as the play wrapped up, I understand they wanted to demonstrate the full circle and foreshadow what was to come. The music in between scenes was calm and matches the overall mood I was feeling. I have a lot of respect for the one musician because he was all alone and still seemed constantly keep up and continue to keep the play moving with sound effects and light guitar playing. I do not think I ever say him miss a cue unless he covered it perfectly. With the puppets not being to make sound effects with hands or mouth, the musician using many devices to make sound was a brilliant move by the director. The acting done by all the actors seemed to all match up. You could tell they knew this play inside and out with the amount of confidence they had to pick up each cues. I felt as if the mother especially had wonderful timing within picking up cues and knowing when it was time to speed up the tempo as a narrator. I thought the son was fantastic, but only had one emotion at times. I wanted to see him get more angry and less passive at times. The whole cast played off each other’s energy and I in no part of the play did I feel as if it dragged on. Overall, I was so incredibly impressed with this cast’s production of “A Long Christmas Ride Home.” I was very entertained as well as moved by the message it gave of how every moment could and does affect future actions. I am so glad we were required to see it and I cannot wait to see the more shows to come.