Post by tylerlennon2007 on Jan 28, 2023 17:04:06 GMT
Last night (1/27/2023) I went and saw a one-act put on by Countryside High School's Theater 3 and 4 classes, entitled "Powerline : The Story of Me, Mario, and Your Mom!", written by Don Zolidis. This review will contain spoilers for the one act, so keep that in mind before reading (I'm sure you can find a video online of the play if you're curious). Anyways, before I get into the actual review, here is a brief rundown of the plot for the uninitiated.
What follows is a series of mostly comedy scenes at a company called Powerline, an organization that takes phone calls from people playing video games and their job is to provide help to the player to get through certain parts of the game.
Most of the phone call scenes have either the customer or the employee acting unreasonable, sometimes both of them at the same time, and the majority of these scenes are to show a young Gilbert (the dad) what the job goes like.
Eventually, he gets his own desk and cubicle and we quickly learn that he has crippling anxiety, having a panic attack over his first phone call, which he doesn't even answer, a second phone call over the first one he does answer, and a third panic attack because he feels like he's having too many panic attacks.
A young Johanna (the mom) comes over, helps calm him down, and shows him how to properly handle a phone call. Somewhere along the way she mentions that her favorite game is Ice Climber.
The final scene (from the past) is one where Gilbert calls Johanna through the Powerline, complains that he needs a second player for Ice Climber, and they set up a date.
Cut back to a short bit of present-day Gilbert and Johanna scolding their kids and that's the play.
Now, here is a breakdown of my thoughts on every cast performance in order of how they appear on the cast list I was given, though keep in mind some actors played multiple roles- If that is the case for someone, I will list them whenever their first role comes up on the list and just talk about ALL of their roles then. I also do not have the full names of everyone on the cast list so, for simplicity's sake, I will just be using first names.
Finn (Quinn) as Gilbert (Dad) - Finn did an incredible job with not only remembering lines (from my understanding, the cast didn't have a super long time to prepare) but also in performance. From the more comedic bits like his first ridiculous phone call where he's having an almost cartoonish panic attack over the phone with a customer to the more quiet moments like the final phone call with Johanna to even just his background acting as he stood through many other phone calls with other characters, every scene he was in felt fully genuine and it was very nice to watch. I can't wait to see what he does next as an actor.
Leo as Johanna (Mom) - Johanna is a character who seems to require this kind of Emma Perkins (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals) balance of sarcasm, comedic timing, and seriousness that surely cannot be easy to pull off but Leo did with flying colors, jumping what could've been a bland character if not acted out correctly to my favorite character out of the whole play and one of the most stand-out performances. Amazing work all around and another addition to the list of great performances from him.
Syd as Bartholomew - While only appearing in one scene, their energy was absolutely incredible and I really enjoyed seeing them on stage. I do believe they forgot a bit of their monologue, however I feel they played it off very well (from an audience perspective) and their performance as a whole overshadowed that anyways. Great work! Also, I'm pretty sure they played the person who came in over the intercom? If I am right on that, bonus props because those bits had me chuckling quite a bit.
Cyan as Brunhilde - This actor had a really good accent (one of the better examples of "American high schooler does foreign accent" I've seen, that seems to be a pattern with this troupe) and I quite enjoyed her scene. It was a little hard to understand the beginning of the scene due to a lack of projection, but it wasn't a glaring enough issue to derail the whole scene and, regardless, I really enjoyed her performance. I hope she does more acting in the future because I'd love to see her on the stage again.
Nox as Orvis - Another one of my favorite performances from the play, Nox plays a character that essentially treats their phone calls like a game, messing around with a deeply annoying, Metroid-obsessed customer in a way that both gets the job done while also providing them some sort of entertainment. This was probably my favorite of the comedic phone call scenes, or at least one of the most memorable, and I hope to see them in future productions because they are just great.
Holly as Mega-Snap and Ty - Anyone who has the ability to play two separate, notable speaking roles in the same play without getting confused blows my mind, and I think this promising actor did a great job. With the exception of a few lines that didn't land due to odd delivery (something which just gets better with time and practice), I quite enjoyed their scenes and got very excited when I saw them enter as a second character. Also, unrelated to their performance, but their hair is really cool and actually did help contribute to the insufferable energy that Mega-Snap had. Playing unlikable characters without being a drain on the audience is a tough balancing act, and I am pleased to say that they balanced it incredibly well.
Devin as Kenny - While the character is 15 years old, the whole joke of the character is that he reads as a little kid, and oftentimes high schoolers playing little kid-type characters has this really weird quality that makes the whole thing awkward to watch, but that was nowhere to be found with this performance! I was really entertained by their performance, and it was a great introduction to the whole concept of what the majority of the one-act was, so my absolute compliments all around.
Tushar as Jae - I really enjoyed his performance a lot. A few of his lines were a bit hard to understand because of a lack of projection, but again not enough to derail the whole scene, and I really enjoyed the delivery of his lines specifically. He felt the most like a normal customer, both in part due to the script but also because of his performance, and it was really nice to see. I hope to see him again in other productions
Serenity (Ren) as Tolliver - Tolliver is a deeply insufferable character, hitting all the marks of a stalker-type lover in a one-sided relationship and an attention seeker, both of which should've made me want the scene over as soon as possible, but she managed to be just likable enough to not make that the case. I said earlier in Nox's portion that this was one of my favorite of the phone call scenes, and that is just as much in credit to Serenity as it is to Nox. The two had amazing stage chemistry and this just solidified my impression from John Lennon & Me that she is a very gifted actor.
Alejandro as Joey - The other "normal customer" performance that stood out to me. There was a lack of projection on some lines but I could still understand the scene flawlessly due to his tone of voice and facial expressions, and overall he did a great job.
Sarah as Jeska and Bryn - I was very excited to see Sarah again on the stage, as she did such an incredible job in John Lennon & Me, and this did not disappoint. Again, anyone being able to play two completely separate characters (especially back-to-back like she did here) is automatically an A+ in my book, and the fact that they were not only so different from each other but also Star (JL&M) and she performed them all so convincingly and effectively shows just how versatile she is as an actor. I really hope to see her again in other productions because she truly has a gift. Definitely one of the most stand-out performances from this one act.
Kiara as Martin - This scene was much more focused on Gilbert rather than the person on the other end of the phone, but they still did a wonderful job and played off of Gilbert's actor very well!
Sebastian (Jesus) as Lari and Coach Bordeaux - It was very interesting to see him play comedic roles because the only other thing I had seen him in was Property Rites, Troupe 900's amazing one act that they did for Districts this year, and, in that he played a much more serious role. Both of these characters were easy stand-outs, very different from each other (and his character in Property Rites- Lots of versatility all around as an actor), and Lari's whole breakdown is closely rivaling the Space Muffin scene as my favorite phone call. Amazing actor with a very promising future, and I would be thrilled to get the privilege to see him on stage again.
Plot Synopsis
A dad named Gilbert and a mom named Johanna are reprimanding their kids for not getting jobs, which leads them to talking about how they initially met at their job.
What follows is a series of mostly comedy scenes at a company called Powerline, an organization that takes phone calls from people playing video games and their job is to provide help to the player to get through certain parts of the game.
Most of the phone call scenes have either the customer or the employee acting unreasonable, sometimes both of them at the same time, and the majority of these scenes are to show a young Gilbert (the dad) what the job goes like.
Eventually, he gets his own desk and cubicle and we quickly learn that he has crippling anxiety, having a panic attack over his first phone call, which he doesn't even answer, a second phone call over the first one he does answer, and a third panic attack because he feels like he's having too many panic attacks.
A young Johanna (the mom) comes over, helps calm him down, and shows him how to properly handle a phone call. Somewhere along the way she mentions that her favorite game is Ice Climber.
The final scene (from the past) is one where Gilbert calls Johanna through the Powerline, complains that he needs a second player for Ice Climber, and they set up a date.
Cut back to a short bit of present-day Gilbert and Johanna scolding their kids and that's the play.
Individual Cast Performances
Finn (Quinn) as Gilbert (Dad) - Finn did an incredible job with not only remembering lines (from my understanding, the cast didn't have a super long time to prepare) but also in performance. From the more comedic bits like his first ridiculous phone call where he's having an almost cartoonish panic attack over the phone with a customer to the more quiet moments like the final phone call with Johanna to even just his background acting as he stood through many other phone calls with other characters, every scene he was in felt fully genuine and it was very nice to watch. I can't wait to see what he does next as an actor.
Leo as Johanna (Mom) - Johanna is a character who seems to require this kind of Emma Perkins (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals) balance of sarcasm, comedic timing, and seriousness that surely cannot be easy to pull off but Leo did with flying colors, jumping what could've been a bland character if not acted out correctly to my favorite character out of the whole play and one of the most stand-out performances. Amazing work all around and another addition to the list of great performances from him.
Syd as Bartholomew - While only appearing in one scene, their energy was absolutely incredible and I really enjoyed seeing them on stage. I do believe they forgot a bit of their monologue, however I feel they played it off very well (from an audience perspective) and their performance as a whole overshadowed that anyways. Great work! Also, I'm pretty sure they played the person who came in over the intercom? If I am right on that, bonus props because those bits had me chuckling quite a bit.
Cyan as Brunhilde - This actor had a really good accent (one of the better examples of "American high schooler does foreign accent" I've seen, that seems to be a pattern with this troupe) and I quite enjoyed her scene. It was a little hard to understand the beginning of the scene due to a lack of projection, but it wasn't a glaring enough issue to derail the whole scene and, regardless, I really enjoyed her performance. I hope she does more acting in the future because I'd love to see her on the stage again.
Nox as Orvis - Another one of my favorite performances from the play, Nox plays a character that essentially treats their phone calls like a game, messing around with a deeply annoying, Metroid-obsessed customer in a way that both gets the job done while also providing them some sort of entertainment. This was probably my favorite of the comedic phone call scenes, or at least one of the most memorable, and I hope to see them in future productions because they are just great.
Holly as Mega-Snap and Ty - Anyone who has the ability to play two separate, notable speaking roles in the same play without getting confused blows my mind, and I think this promising actor did a great job. With the exception of a few lines that didn't land due to odd delivery (something which just gets better with time and practice), I quite enjoyed their scenes and got very excited when I saw them enter as a second character. Also, unrelated to their performance, but their hair is really cool and actually did help contribute to the insufferable energy that Mega-Snap had. Playing unlikable characters without being a drain on the audience is a tough balancing act, and I am pleased to say that they balanced it incredibly well.
Devin as Kenny - While the character is 15 years old, the whole joke of the character is that he reads as a little kid, and oftentimes high schoolers playing little kid-type characters has this really weird quality that makes the whole thing awkward to watch, but that was nowhere to be found with this performance! I was really entertained by their performance, and it was a great introduction to the whole concept of what the majority of the one-act was, so my absolute compliments all around.
Tushar as Jae - I really enjoyed his performance a lot. A few of his lines were a bit hard to understand because of a lack of projection, but again not enough to derail the whole scene, and I really enjoyed the delivery of his lines specifically. He felt the most like a normal customer, both in part due to the script but also because of his performance, and it was really nice to see. I hope to see him again in other productions
Serenity (Ren) as Tolliver - Tolliver is a deeply insufferable character, hitting all the marks of a stalker-type lover in a one-sided relationship and an attention seeker, both of which should've made me want the scene over as soon as possible, but she managed to be just likable enough to not make that the case. I said earlier in Nox's portion that this was one of my favorite of the phone call scenes, and that is just as much in credit to Serenity as it is to Nox. The two had amazing stage chemistry and this just solidified my impression from John Lennon & Me that she is a very gifted actor.
Alejandro as Joey - The other "normal customer" performance that stood out to me. There was a lack of projection on some lines but I could still understand the scene flawlessly due to his tone of voice and facial expressions, and overall he did a great job.
Sarah as Jeska and Bryn - I was very excited to see Sarah again on the stage, as she did such an incredible job in John Lennon & Me, and this did not disappoint. Again, anyone being able to play two completely separate characters (especially back-to-back like she did here) is automatically an A+ in my book, and the fact that they were not only so different from each other but also Star (JL&M) and she performed them all so convincingly and effectively shows just how versatile she is as an actor. I really hope to see her again in other productions because she truly has a gift. Definitely one of the most stand-out performances from this one act.
Kiara as Martin - This scene was much more focused on Gilbert rather than the person on the other end of the phone, but they still did a wonderful job and played off of Gilbert's actor very well!
Sebastian (Jesus) as Lari and Coach Bordeaux - It was very interesting to see him play comedic roles because the only other thing I had seen him in was Property Rites, Troupe 900's amazing one act that they did for Districts this year, and, in that he played a much more serious role. Both of these characters were easy stand-outs, very different from each other (and his character in Property Rites- Lots of versatility all around as an actor), and Lari's whole breakdown is closely rivaling the Space Muffin scene as my favorite phone call. Amazing actor with a very promising future, and I would be thrilled to get the privilege to see him on stage again.
Tech, Set, Direction, All That Fun Stuff
Right off the bat, apparently this was a student-directed one act, which makes an already pretty impressive feat all the more impressive. My absolute tip of the hat to both Leo Cain (director) and Serenity Irvin-Churchward (stage manager) for pulling off such an in-depth one-act as well and as smoothly as you did. I'm sure it was no easy task, so all the praise I could possibly give goes to the both of you.
Sound (ran by Indigo Rygiel and made by Syd Sikorski) was very good. There were a few moments where the music overpowered the actor's voices, but those were pretty quickly and effectively fixed and it wasn't a big deal. I much appreciated the video game music in the background of several scenes, especially how at least some of them seemed to match the game talked about in the scene, and all the sound effects were high quality as well. There were a few times that the phone seemed to ring a bit early, but the actor's played it off well and it wasn't a glaring issue.
Lights (ran by Amanda Green and I believe plotted out by Finn French) were wwell-timedand looked nice. The spotlight effect at the beginning was also a neat touch as well as the swirls once the flashback portion began. There were a good handful of times where it was hard to see the actors, though I don't know if that was a lighting or a staging issue. I also did appreciate how, when there was one back-and-forth, the light tech seemingly realized that getting the timing right was just too high of a task so they stopped switching them- That was much better than the alternative which would have been the lights not being in time and causing a distraction from the scene. Overall, good light work.
Props (Finn French) were very nice. I especially appreciated the plushes that related to the games being talked about, as well as the phone that did not break even when thrown on the ground by an actor (stage phones can be sort of fragile, so that was impressive to me). Props usually aren't something I specifically notice unless they are the focus of the scene, so the fact that I was actively engaged by the prop choices is an A+ automatically and they looked nice and high quality as well.
Hair and makeup (Fin Casey, who also did other backstage assistance, and Holly) were both very nice (I especially liked Kenny and Johnanna's makeup a lot). All the hair and makeup choices were quite fitting to the characters and the show ran pretty smoothly, so great job!
Cues (called by Jordan Pescio) were all super well timed. There were a few times where I could audibly hear them calling cues from the back of the auditorium (so, if they were to do that job again, my constructive criticism would be to try and do it a little quieter), however almost every sound and light cue (which, there was a lot for this one act) was on time, so it's no big deal. Tech cues can be really tricky to get right especially for a play with as many as this one had so that was very impressive work. Well done
Set design (Cyan) was really nice. I appreciated how the couch and desk set-up, while simple, worked effectively for every scene and it never felt like I was just watching the same thing over and over because of the versatility it had. It looked really nice as well
Costumes (Sarah Venable) were really fitting for each character. The costumes for Kenny, Joey, and Johanna especially all stood out to me but the costumes for each and every character immediately conveyed to me the type of character they'd be before they even started talking, which is really hard to pull off and they all looked great. Costume changes were also very quick and effective. There was one small wardrobe error I noticed (Gilbert coming back as an old man at the end without the bald cap), but it was hardly a distraction and the scene was so short that it barely even processed in my mind regardless. Troupe 900's costumes are always one point, and this play was no exception to that pattern.
Overall, tech, while having a few issues, was incredibly impressive, especially for a student-directed one act that I believe was done for a class. And, for the tech issues that did happen, the actors and tech crew fixed and/or played them off well enough to where it's nothing I would consider a flaw.
Right off the bat, apparently this was a student-directed one act, which makes an already pretty impressive feat all the more impressive. My absolute tip of the hat to both Leo Cain (director) and Serenity Irvin-Churchward (stage manager) for pulling off such an in-depth one-act as well and as smoothly as you did. I'm sure it was no easy task, so all the praise I could possibly give goes to the both of you.
Sound (ran by Indigo Rygiel and made by Syd Sikorski) was very good. There were a few moments where the music overpowered the actor's voices, but those were pretty quickly and effectively fixed and it wasn't a big deal. I much appreciated the video game music in the background of several scenes, especially how at least some of them seemed to match the game talked about in the scene, and all the sound effects were high quality as well. There were a few times that the phone seemed to ring a bit early, but the actor's played it off well and it wasn't a glaring issue.
Lights (ran by Amanda Green and I believe plotted out by Finn French) were wwell-timedand looked nice. The spotlight effect at the beginning was also a neat touch as well as the swirls once the flashback portion began. There were a good handful of times where it was hard to see the actors, though I don't know if that was a lighting or a staging issue. I also did appreciate how, when there was one back-and-forth, the light tech seemingly realized that getting the timing right was just too high of a task so they stopped switching them- That was much better than the alternative which would have been the lights not being in time and causing a distraction from the scene. Overall, good light work.
Props (Finn French) were very nice. I especially appreciated the plushes that related to the games being talked about, as well as the phone that did not break even when thrown on the ground by an actor (stage phones can be sort of fragile, so that was impressive to me). Props usually aren't something I specifically notice unless they are the focus of the scene, so the fact that I was actively engaged by the prop choices is an A+ automatically and they looked nice and high quality as well.
Hair and makeup (Fin Casey, who also did other backstage assistance, and Holly) were both very nice (I especially liked Kenny and Johnanna's makeup a lot). All the hair and makeup choices were quite fitting to the characters and the show ran pretty smoothly, so great job!
Cues (called by Jordan Pescio) were all super well timed. There were a few times where I could audibly hear them calling cues from the back of the auditorium (so, if they were to do that job again, my constructive criticism would be to try and do it a little quieter), however almost every sound and light cue (which, there was a lot for this one act) was on time, so it's no big deal. Tech cues can be really tricky to get right especially for a play with as many as this one had so that was very impressive work. Well done
Set design (Cyan) was really nice. I appreciated how the couch and desk set-up, while simple, worked effectively for every scene and it never felt like I was just watching the same thing over and over because of the versatility it had. It looked really nice as well
Costumes (Sarah Venable) were really fitting for each character. The costumes for Kenny, Joey, and Johanna especially all stood out to me but the costumes for each and every character immediately conveyed to me the type of character they'd be before they even started talking, which is really hard to pull off and they all looked great. Costume changes were also very quick and effective. There was one small wardrobe error I noticed (Gilbert coming back as an old man at the end without the bald cap), but it was hardly a distraction and the scene was so short that it barely even processed in my mind regardless. Troupe 900's costumes are always one point, and this play was no exception to that pattern.
Overall, tech, while having a few issues, was incredibly impressive, especially for a student-directed one act that I believe was done for a class. And, for the tech issues that did happen, the actors and tech crew fixed and/or played them off well enough to where it's nothing I would consider a flaw.
Special Thanks
I would like to thank Leo and Quinn for supplying me with the cast and crew lists, which allowed this review to be possible.
And I would also like to thank the entirety of Troupe 900 for continuing to be incredibly nice to me. It was really great getting to meet so many of you after the show, and you guys are genuinely one of the nicest groups of people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I can't wait to see SpongeBob if I can swing it, as well as anything you guys do in the future.
Much love,
Tyler Hogan from Troupe 2055
And I would also like to thank the entirety of Troupe 900 for continuing to be incredibly nice to me. It was really great getting to meet so many of you after the show, and you guys are genuinely one of the nicest groups of people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I can't wait to see SpongeBob if I can swing it, as well as anything you guys do in the future.
Much love,
Tyler Hogan from Troupe 2055