Review: LIGHT TO DARK at Nashua Theatre Guild

By: Feb. 01, 2019
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Review: LIGHT TO DARK at Nashua Theatre Guild

What does a treehouse, radio, angels and demons, secret corporations, and a school lockdown have in common? They were the subjects of a series of one act plays presented through the Nashua Theatre Guild's "Light To Dark: A Night of One Acts." This iteration of an evening of one acts gives new or inexperienced directors a chance to work with professional or well experienced directors to act as mentors during the rehearsal process. This season's theme, Light to Dark, sought out to explore the duality of light and darkness and ranging from the bright, happy, and hopeful Treehouse, by Kayla Fernekees, to the dark, intense, and suspenseful Lockdown, by Douglas Craven, the dichotomy between light and dark was performed literally, as well as theatrically.

Starting off the night was Treehouse; a fun tale of growing up and becoming the person you want to be. Bright, energetic, and childish, it starts with a mother describing her son Henry as a good-for-nothing drunk, his friend Carli as an actress who never talks about her work, and his friend Brianna as a Doctor who never talks about her family. The trio then enters as kids and, over the course of going on a super spy mission, you get to learn about what they want to be when they grow up, how they turned out, and what they are going to do to change their ways. These realizations occur as the characters grow up before your very eyes in a monologue. While the story itself could use a little more shape and a stronger structure, the performers- Chris Avery, Katy Carter, and Jackie Marcoux as Henry, Carli, and Brianna, respectively- helped the audience along by differentiating their child-self and their adult-self. The commitment to being a child made their realizations as an adult that much more endearing and gave the audience a feeling that they could make similar changes in their life to create a better future.

Following the feel-good tale comes a textbook gut buster. The Further Adventures of Nick Danger, Third Eye is a radio play adaptation of the Firesign Theater's recordings of the same name. I quickly realized that it was going to be a radio play, and staging radio plays is a unique challenge; a challenge I don't believe this production quite hit the mark on. For the first time in my experience with staging radio plays, I believe that a production did too much to make it visually interesting; so much that it began to become distracting. The number of props on such a small props table, switching jackets and wigs on a nearby coatrack to differentiate character, and the pushing and pulling of characters to literally physicalize the action while only using about half of the playing space made it feel crowded and stuck. The actual performing itself was a triumph: the actors did a fantastic job conveying their emotions and intentions, the sound effects contributed to the storytelling and comedic timing, the underscoring music added a sense of drama. Larry Pizza, who played characters such as Rocky Rococo and FDR, created an entirely different voice for each character that was enough for the audience to tell the difference without all of the hats and jackets. Cody Mitchell, who played Nick Danger himself, made many thrilling vocal choices that made it very clear who he was and what he wanted, including the usage of a megaphone to represent his inner thoughts. Small tricks like that go a long way. Most importantly, trust your audience, they are smarter than you think.

Rounding out the "light" part of the evening, A Case of Belonging, by Jan Allred, brings the eternal battle between angels and devils to a comedic encounter doing what they do best: Fighting over souls. A Man, expertly played by Colin Malette, walks on stage, has a heart attack, and dies. The rest of the action is a struggle of power between an angel and a devil, who both claim this Man's soul for their own. The characters themselves embodied the lands from which they came: The Angel, purely played by Brendan Mackay, goofily counters every sleight handed attempt of the Devil, slyly played by Cody Mitchell, as he attempts to trick his way to a new soul. Some alcohol, a wooden bat, and a few guilt trips later, the two reach an agreement, which is almost immediately thwarted by a third party, a Voice commandingly given presence by Toby Paul, who claims the Man's soul and is willing to prove it by making the Man move himself. Malette's disjointed and distinct twitches and shifts timed well with the Voice's commands and looked as if he were being pulled by an invisible force, an athletic feat that this reviewer could only dream of achieving. The comedic timing of the bickering angel and devil was a delightful treat, and a moment that the audience wish they could have reveled in a little longer before act 2.

No matter what one does, the sun must set and the night must fall. Act 2 brings the darkness into the evening with two captivating plays, starting off with A Most Dangerous Game, by Burton Bumgarner. While the plot of a little known company offering four seemingly random strangers the interview of a lifetime with the caveat that their interview involves them getting locked into a room together to see what happens is rather predictable and the twists and turns would come naturally to anyone with a knack for murder-mysteries, A Most Dangerous Game still well-crafted and the set was smartly designed. There were points in time where the pickups between characters were either a little too slow or a little too fast and they tripped on their words, however the personalities were well flushed out and the actors committed to the quirks that made them unique. Some of the blocking also felt like movement for the sake of movement, but not enough so to detract from the stressful situation that the characters were in and the delightful, murderous reversals that even the audience enjoyed watching.

While the killers were all on stage at the same time, there is something inherently and instinctually frightening about a killer you cannot see. That invisible presence was exactly what drove the audience to the edge of their seats in the epic finale: Lockdown, by Douglas Craven. The premise is simple, effective, and terrifying: A school is on lockdown. A small class is forced to sit in the dark while a shooter roams the hallways. When a student bursts from the room and their teacher gives chase, the rest of the class must come together to remain calm during the crisis. A darkened stage, employing the use of blues to symbolize the darkness while still allowing the audience to see, that gradually grew darker as the hours tolled on emphasized the claustrophobia and tension of such situations. The movement was very deliberate and the actors collectively did a very good job using their physicality and vocal intensity to remind the audience that they are locked in a classroom while still being able to be seen and heard. The performances biggest weakness lies in the transitions between hours of time to fit a multi-hour event into a thirty minute performance. Going to a blackout when the stage is already so dark and still being able to see the cast shifting chairs and changing positions ruins the illusion of being trapped. The only other moment that ruined the illusion was the ending: while definitely not a fault of the production, the final scene comes with not much context and ends rather anti-climactically. In a show where the conflict peaks halfway through because the teacher- their protective force- leaves the kids alone, you need to build anticipation to a final moment, such as the recapitulation of a relationship being resolved, or a climactic event such as an offstage resolution of the threat, or even the arrival of the threat itself. While the intent may have been to leave the action open ended and allow for multiple endings, it came across as incomplete and anti-climactic, which ended the performance on a low point.

Overall, each show had its unique challenges and obstacles, every new director approached their piece with a clear vision, and the combination of these created a unique night of great theater. While some performances ran into a couple snags, the experiences are still important. In a production where the goal was to pair new directors with professionals to help them learn, it is important to remember the parts that went well and not just the moments that didn't quite gel. That is what makes theater so exciting: Nothing is ever going to be perfect and that is thrilling.



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