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__Critical Essay on the Production of Must Go On __

 //Must Go On// is a play about a small local show in Atlanta called __Taste of the Morning__. The diverse cast of the

fictional news show face being shut down because of declining numbers in viewers. However, the news team members find

 out about the canceling of their show through a series of he said-she said. //Must Go On// chronicles what the news team believes

 to be their last day producing //Taste of the Morning//.

 //Must Go On// was written and directed by John Kundert-Gibbs. As stated by the playwright, one is supposed to see

 “the dialogue and action as a kind of duet (or quartet…).” Brooke, performed by Suzanne Zoller, sleeps with the producer of

//Taste of the Morning// after which he informs her that this is the last show that will air. Brooke, being more than unprofessional,

 then proceeds to inform the other cast members. The show seems to be going terribly out of control, and the news cast

proceeds to fight and argue while backstage. On camera, the guest appearances are awkward and slightly uninteresting to

 typical general audience (i.e. a story on possums). The plot of //Must Go O//n seemed very typical of many struggling

productions with workers who struggle to make ends meet while dreaming of “hitting it big.” The plot was easy to relate to in

that there are very few persons who have evaded a time in their life when they felt everything was falling apart. The play was

cleverly written with the idea of overlapping events, which is how events in real life actually happen, simultaneously.

 The set of //Must Go On// consisted of two separate rooms. The Cellar Theatre acted as the backstage and prep room

 for the news team. There was a separate room that acted as the studio that the news team aired into the Cellar Theatre. Both

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> stages had furniture that one would normally see in a real studio. This brought an element of realism to the production of //Must//

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> //Go On//. As an added touch, the outside door to the recording studio was even made to look as part of the production. While

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">there were many elements that contributed to the realism of the production, I disliked the way that the scenes from the

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">recording studio where played over the scenes taking place inside the Cellar Theatre. The television screens were in the center

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> of the stage behind the actors. I think that if the television screens would have been split between the left and right side of the

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> stage then it would have been easier for the audience to take in all the action that was happening simultaneously.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> Immediately, I took particular interest in Sam. While I believe sexuality is beyond the scope, and purpose, of this

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">paper, I did find his character to be amusing. I believe the actor, Nathan Cowling, was quite refined in his skills. It was obvious

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> that not only did Cowling possess a great deal of talent, but that he embraced the role of Sam very well and made the character

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> genuine for the audience. Cowling’s performance provides further evidence of a sense of realism.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> Each of the characters appeared in clothing that seemed to fit the part’s personality. There seemed to be one

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">exception though. While Gwen appeared to aspire to be a big time newscaster, her clothing gave a completely different

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">impression as to her ambitions. The character of Gwen wore a multitude of different colored layers. Gwen also stated that the

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">people in wardrobe were trying to make her appear younger. I found this to be relatively unbelievable. When I think of

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">newscasters trying to look younger, I think of wearing more business casual pieces instead of suits, not dressing like a preteen

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> from the early nineties. I do not think that sparkling jeans and a neon fishnet “blouse” qualify as dressing younger for a

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">newscaster. However, the rest of the characters’ costumes seemed appropriate and fitting of the situations.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> The stage, the actors, and the dialogue all combined to create a very realistic effect. The dialogue seemed to present

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> an aggressive tone toward finding out the secret Brooke was keeping. The tone of the actors meshed very well in creating the

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">tension between all of the characters. I thought that the ending had a very clear release of the built up tension. I enjoyed that

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">the director chose to end the show with the cast dancing to a popular song by Taylor Swift. I thought it was a bit of a

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">juxtaposition when one considers that people who are probably newscasters probably do not listen to songs that might be

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">considered more intended for younger audiences. However, this also made it very hard to refrain from laughing at the

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">resolution of the story. Because a story like this is relatively unrealistic, I think that the end mood created by the dance number

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> resolved the unlikeliness for the audience.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> Overall I enjoyed the production of //Must Go On//. I went with a friend who is a bit of a theatre buff and while she

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">believed that //Must Go On// was not as high of quality as she has experienced in the past, I thought it was a pleasant production.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I would have staged the video feeds differently, but I did find the overlapping story lines to be a clever way to go about writing

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> a script. The overlap was much attuned to the idea of realism. I laughed, many times in utter frustration, throughout the entire

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">show. And if laughter is medicine for the soul, then I do not think one could fault //Must Go On// too harshly.