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“Must Go On”  The play “Must Go On” had many unique qualities and characteristics not found in most other plays. Many of these qualities developed due to the presentation from both the Cellar Theatre as well as the streaming of live video from the studio room. This enabled the playwright and director to create an overall presentation of on and off the screen. With the show, “Taste of the Morning,” the audience was introduced to what seems like an overall dynamic between the TV personalities, the crew, and the guests. This production of “Must Go On” in the Cellar Theatre was the very first time this play has been performed. As a result, there were challenges addressed that had not been addressed before in this fashion. Overall, I believe this play was very well done and accomplished its purpose. The only major downfall, in my opinion, were the few chaotic confusing moments between the actors in the Cellar Theatre and the ones in the Studio Room being streamed through. There were parts where it became choppy and hard to follow. However, in the end, the many elements came together to produce a delightful comedy.

 Central elements to any play are the playwright and director. In the case of “Must Go On,” John Kundert-Gibbs carried out both of these roles. With this being the first production ever, there were many things Mr. Kundert-Gibbs had to take into account. For example, the cohesion between the green room and the studio was by far the biggest obstacle. There were scenes streamed onto the television that were crucial and could not be missed. However, due to distractions from the actors directly in front of the audience, this was hard to accomplish. In order to allow them to come together properly, he moved the plot forward “via anorchestrated meshing of dialogue and action happening simultaneously.” I took note of this many times as characters on the TV would have parallel actions or phrases similar to those in the Cellar Theatre. For example, when there was fighting in front of me, there was also fighting on the screen. Additionally, they would sometimes say the same expressions. While at times this was done well, I felt that it often got too chaotic and hard to follow. At times, I didn’t know which characters to pay attention too and felt like I was missing important developments. However, this was most realistic because in reality, not all action would have stopped in the green room whenever there was action on the television. With such a complex execution of this play, Kundert-Gibbs did in fact unify all of the elements of performance and put on a wonderful show.

 Another key element to consider is set design. There were many individual sets within the play such as the green room, the lounge studio, the jungle, the kitchen, the traffic, and the weather. All of these sets came together on a screen within the green room. Because much of the action took place on screen, the set designer, Rich Dunham was presented with a special set of challenges. The Cellar theatre itself was transformed into the green room on a Proscenium Stage. The visibility was compliant to the demand of the show and the stage allowed for large pieces of scenery without any blocking. The stage was transformed into a green room with many bright colors, a makeup area and lounging area for the various guests waiting. This was where the primary action took place and represented a transitional state between real life and what the studio conveys. A downside to the Cellar Theatre was the lack of power and low ceiling. There were four screens together creating a large screen giving the live feed from the studio room, which had been transformed from a Dance Studio. There was also a smaller TV showing what would have actually been broadcasted. Dunham, through a lot of work, enabled all sets to come together cohesively to help develop the overall plot.

 In addition to set design, costume design had a very important role in “Must Go On.” Christine Burchett-Butler sought to present two distinct worlds to the audience; on stage and off stage in the Television Studio for the early morning show “Taste of the Morning.” The on stage appearance is what is broadcasted to the viewers. These Television Personalities brought the artificial glam while the crew was in daily attire. The contrast between the two created a fine line between reality and show business. Each individual’s wardrobe also helped to develop the personalities of the characters as well. For example, Gwen was very focused on her appearance and seemed to be more invested with her career than her personal life. Therefore, the prepubescent Disney star look suited the role quite well. Sam, a gay makeup stylist had on a casual outfit to represent his job as well as his sexuality. Brick, with a nice suit and tie, conveyed his condescending proud persona. In my opinion, Burchett-Butler did an excellent job.

 An additionally important aspect of set design was lighting. Lighting Designer, Austin K. Butler, was responsible for lighting both on the stage and on camera. On stage, he created an atmosphere of morning since it was a morning television show. The camera lighting was also very well done and bright such as it would be in a TV studio. Overall, the lighting directed attention to the actors and brought a sense of liveliness to the play.

 Finally, the actors within the play did an excellent job portraying their respective characters. Three groups of characters were seen; TV Personalities, the Crew, and the guests. One of the TV Personalities was Brook, played by Suzanne Zoller. In my opinion, she did a fantastic job. Her character was an extremely ditsy weather woman as well as a sex symbol for television, as she slept around with many crew members. There were no noticeable flaws to her acting or moments where she lost character. She was very consistent and remained a static character throughout the play. The crew member who I believe played their part best was Nathan Cowling, who played Sam. In the play, he was a very homosexual makeup artist who presented comedic relief throughout the play. He remained the dominant character within the green room and created a bit of tension with his stubborn and persistent attitude. Nonetheless, he was excellent for the role! As far as guests of the show, my personal favorite was Eustace, played by Ashley Nunnelly. I believe she did the best job due to the demanding role of her character. She was an old woman who trained possums. She had a very strange, quiet demeanor and only made grunting noises. However, when put on TV with Bill, her character developed into an obsessive, outgoing, crazy performer. Nunnelly portrayed this dynamic character perfectly and also served as a comedic relief in this farce.

 Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this performance. Between the many elements it takes to run a show, as well as the complex array of new complications, unique to “Must Go On,” it came together very well. Especially for the very first production, it was an entertaining farce that conveyed the idea that even when the worst seems to be ahead of you, you must persevere because you never truly know what lies ahead.