The Play That Goes Wrong

When everything seems to be going wrong with the world and constant stories of racism plague your newsfeed, it feels good to unplug and just laugh.

The Play That Goes Wrong, currently running at the Lyceum Theatre, is a British farce. It opened in London before transferring to Broadway last year.

The set is gorgeous, but oddly cheap looking. Done by Nigel Hook the set fits the aesthetic of the show perfectly.

The Play That Goes Wrong is similar to Noises Off. If you've seen Noises Off and you enjoy it, then you'll enjoy this play. If you've never heard of or seen Noises Off then everything you need to know is in the title of this one.

The Play That Goes Wrong actually follows the Cornley University Drama Society (from England) as they present their production of "The Murder at Haversham Manor".

Upon entering the theatre, we got a glimpse of the crew of the play putting the final touches on the set and being helped by a member of the audience.

Before the start of the play, director Chris Bean (Mark Evans) introduces us to the Drama Society as well as the show. Evans delivers his lines with great comedic timing as we learn more about the problems that have plagued the Drama Society in the past.

Mr. Bean is of course the director of "The Murder of Haversham Manor" (as well as the designer) and not of The Play That Goes Wrong which is directed by Mark Bell. The Play That Goes Wrong is written by Henry Shields, Henry Lewis, and Jonathan Sayer. "The Murder at Faversham Manor" is written by Susie H.K. Brideswell. The playbill has the fun detail of including the information of the actual play and the fictional one we are watching unfold.

If this is all confusing, I promise it is not once you are watching it. You are watching a play within a play and the play within the play is getting shown from beginning to end. This is different from the aforementioned Noises Off which focuses more on the backstage antics of the performers.

As the title states everything goes wrong. Doors stick and the set falls apart. 

The play within a play begins with a corpse of Charles Haversham (Jonathan Fielding) who cannot stay still. Of course you can't have a dead body without suspects so we are then introduced to Charles's fiancee (Amelia McClain), the butler (Harrison Unger), Charles's brother (Alex Mandell) and Charles's best friend (Preston Boyd).

We also get glimpses of Trevor (Akron Watson), the light board and sound board operator, and the stage manager (Ashley Bryant). Everyone from the cast and the crew must act "bad" and they do it well.

The show goes horribly wrong from the beginning and only gets worse and worse as the show progresses. It looks like a lot of fun, but as an actor I can't even begin to imagine how exhausted the actors are at the end of each performance. 

It is a lot to take in. Several gags happen at once multiple times throughout the show. It is tons of fun though.

The audience I was with absolutely loved it. They laughed from beginning to end. 

The woman behind me commented throughout the whole show as she noticed the different gags happening. I had fun and as evidenced by those around me, you probably will, too.

The Gentleman Caller

We are first introduced to Tennessee Williams.

He tells the audience who he is and his whereabouts as William Inge prepares drinks in the background. Inge is an unknown journalist preparing to interview Williams in his home in St. Louis.

The opening monologue has some good lines. Juan Francisco Villa delivers them with comedic timing. The Gentleman Caller by Philip Dawkins and produced by the Abingdon Theatre Company is currently running at the Cherry Lane Theatre.  The play takes place as Williams's new play "The Gentleman Caller" (now known as "The Glass Menagerie") is set to open in Chicago.

Williams breaks the fourth wall as he narrates the events of the evening, the evening the play opens and the events that occur after William Inge is discovered. Inge and Williams were both gay men and they did know each other, but as far as I know the events involving the two of them are a work of fiction.

There is not much action in this play, but there is a lot of talk. Inge (Daniel K. Isaac) spends most of the play refusing Williams's advances while also struggling with his wanting to proceed. There many innuendos to keep the audience entertained.

The play is off balanced in terms of the characters. Williams definitely dominates the play with Inge interjecting some lines of dialogue every now and then. Inge does have a final monologue, but it seemed written more for shock value than anything else.

Directed by Tony Speciale, the play was dominated by a strong performance that overpowered the weaker one. The set designed by Sara C. Walsh was gorgeous. Lamps were stacked upon manuscripts towering over the actors. It was beautiful to look at.

Good overpowers the not so good, and in the end deserves an audience.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The Stone Witch at Westside Theatre

The Stone Witch is currently playing at the Westside theatre. It is a good show, but it is overshadowed by the production values. Upon entering the theatre, you are immediately taken in by the gorgeous set which is covered with magical creatures and has a child like whimsy to it. In various parts of the show, you are treated to gorgeous projections depicting the illustrations found in the children's book the characters are working on.

Simon Grundberg (Dan Lauria) is a world renown children book author and illustrator. However not having written a book in twelve years, his editor Claire Forloni (Carolyn McCormick) is desperate for a book she can put out by Christmas. Peter Chandler (Rupak Ginn) is a young hopeful who is sent by Claire to inspire Simon into writing his new novel with the promise of $10,000 and his own chance of being published after the fact.

Peter reluctantly agrees and meets Simon in the latter's woodland cabin. Simon is fighting some demons who are preventing him from writing. Peter soothes these demons, but Peter is also bursting to get his ideas seen. He is unsure how to help Simon, but is willing to try anything once things begin to go awry.

The majority of the play takes place in Simon's scenic cabin. Only two scenes are not set there and one of them is unnecessary. I honestly forgot it existed up until this point! Anyway, it is fun to see the world surrounding the cabin come to life while also seeing Simon's demons projected behind him.

The Stone Witch is a wonderful show, but I did feel there was something missing in the overall story. I am not sure what exactly, but it definitely dealt with the overall storyline. There were some aspects of Simon's that were brought up, but not fully explained. There were also weak explanations for other things brought up about Simon. Simon is an interesting character, but there was too much background in his story and not enough ways to tie them in together.

The actors were great as well. Carolyn McCormick was the perfect blend of professional editor who can intimidate others to get her way while also caring for them. Rupak Ginn was good as well, but there were moments that did not feel authentic. Dan Lauria was fantastic as Simon Grundberg. He had a commanding presence and was able to portray all the aspects of the character in a manner in which the audience was able to sympathize with him.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)

"The Maze Runner" has always been vastly different from the books. I am a book purist and tend to hate movie adaptations if they vary too much from the source material. I didn't mind too much with the first installment, hated the second and having disliked the third book welcomed the changes the third installment had to offer.

This franchise was welcomed overall as it featured a male lead in a dystopian future as opposed to the female leads that seemed to dominate the dystopian young adult franchises. I obviously enjoyed reading the female lead novels and watching their adaptations, but it was interesting and refreshing to read a male authors' perspective.

"The Maze Runner" follows a group of young men as they are dropped into a maze and must find their way out. Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) and his friends quickly discover they are pawns in a corporation called WICKED's trials. Thomas and his friends are immune for the most part to the "flare", a disease that turns humans into zombie like cranks.

Thomas has one simple goal: escape WICKED's clutches with his friends alive. It is difficult to do so as he and his friends are pursued relentlessly by WICKED as they try to find a cure for the flare.

"The Death Cure" opens on Thomas and his friends as they hijack a train in order to rescue their captured friend Minho (Ki Hong Lee). Unfortunately, they take the wrong train car and Minho ends up in WICKED's headquarters. Testing continues on Minho as he is tortured in order to speed up the process of finding a cure. Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), the only female in the maze with them, is one of the scientists involved in torturing Minho which angers Thomas as he had strong feelings for her.

That is the main plot of the film: find a way to rescue Minho and escape with all the other immunes in tow. There are some surprising reunions and fun action sequences.

The film is action packed and the pacing keeps things interesting. There are a lot of coincidences, but there are even more in the book. Yes, these coincidences are annoying and extremely convenient, but if you have read the book they are easy to ignore.

There is a lot to digest in this film and could have had a shorter run time, but honestly I highly disliked the book and so the problems in this film did not bother me as much. I have heard mixed reviews from casual movie goers though. I say the action is fun and the pacing keeps the film moving. It is not the best film in the young adult dystopian category, but it is still engaging and worth a watch.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

I enjoy Star Wars, but it has never been a fandom I follow loyally. My brother is the Star Wars fanatic in my family. He eagerly awaits all the film releases and gets upset if I decide to wait until the Star Wars crowds die down before watching the films. (True story!)

Now that I live in New York and my brother can't get upset I barely got around to watching the film. This story has nothing to do with the rest of the review other than I find it funny because I'm an annoying little sister and what kind of sister would I be if I didn't do a good job of annoying my brother?

Anyway, there are many good things about the eighth installment of the franchise. In The Force Awakens we were introduced to Rey (Daisy Ridley) who is a female drawn to the force which is awesome to see. The film ended with Rey returning Luke's (Mark Hamill) lightsaber to Luke after he left to go into hiding. This film picks up where the other left off, with Rey trying to get Luke to train her and join the fight the rebels are fighting. He is reluctant to do either as his previous venture of mentoring ended in failure. I enjoyed that twist as the previous Jedi masters were all confident mentors.

Luke's previous student was his nephew Ben Solo who later turned into Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). Kylo Ren killed his father Han Solo (Harrison Ford) in the previous installment. Luke has just learned this news and as he sees similarities between Rey and Ben he refuses to train her as he is now scared of what can be accomplished with such natural power.

It is interesting to see Rey take on what was Luke's role in "A New Hope" and see Luke remember once again that he must take on Obi-Wan Kenobi's role. There are other parallels as well.

Luke like Obi-Wan also blames himself for his student's corruption as Kylo Ren takes on what was essentially Anakin Skywalker's role in the prequels. Kylo, like Anakin, destroyed the temple where he was being trained and the students who decided not to join him were killed.

Luke reluctantly teaches Rey a bit about the force. He tells her that it is the energy found everywhere that binds everything together. He gets scared when Rey is seemingly drawn to the darkness residing in the island way too quickly. He sees so much of Ben in her that he cannot continue the training.

Luke is not a great mentor, but there are hints that Rey possesses everything she needs to be a great Jedi master even if she has no formal training. I am curious to see how the next film will handle Rey's  storyline and continue to see how she grows. I am also curious to see where Kylo Ren's storyline goes. Hopefully we will get to see their storylines unfold with more interesting villains to face than the ones found in this film.

The Parisian Woman

Uma Thurman stars in "The Parisian Woman" playing at the Hudson Theatre on Broadway.

The first thing you notice is definitely the set. It sits openly as the audience takes their seats and it is gorgeous. All the sets are gorgeous and add to the richness of the characters who all live in DC.

That being said be prepared for politics from beginning to end.

The play is written by Beau Willimon. Willimon is the creator of "House of Cards" and you can definitely see the similarities between the play and the show. The play is politically driven and the characters are all deceitful and fighting for the upper hand.

Thurman plays the wife of a lawyer who is seeking to run for office. She is willing to help him achieve that goal no matter what it takes.

Chloe (Thurman) spends her days doing things that would improve the country's view of her husband. She knows how to avoid scandal and know which pieces to play in order to gain the upper hand.

Chloe's husband Tom (Josh Lucas) is presented the opportunity to run for an open sear in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. The play consists of five characters and they are all key players in ensuring Tom gets the nomination. Peter (Marton Csokas) is Chloe's lover and having fallen in love with her is willing to put in a good word with the president on Tom's behalf. When he fails to do so, Chloe turns to her friend Jeanette (Blair Brown) to achieve this. Even Jeanette's daughter Rebecca (Philippa Soo) is thrown into this mix.

There are plenty of surprises thrown into the mix from the first scene. From their the secrets revealed only get more and more outrageous and yet the way they are used brings in a sense of dread. This could easily have turned into a farce, but it never crosses that line. No matter how ridiculous the situation you feel scared for how negative the political game can truly be.

There have been many things added to the show since it premiered after Donald Trump's election. Though he is never mentioned by name, it is obvious that this takes place in the present and the president mentioned is currently the one in office. There are plenty of digs thrown his way.

These digs brought on plenty of laughs from the audience, and yet I have not heard any complaints about this show being offensive.

The play is ultimately about power and the lengths people will go to obtain it. Chloe and Tom are both liberal, though they never outright say it. They know how to talk to friends with opposing viewpoints, not because they are being politically correct, but because they know how to gain what they need from them.

Chloe and Tom's marriage is very similar to that in "House of Cards". Affairs can be had as long as there is something to be gained from it and as long as the other person knows about it. Chloe is willing to stand by her husband and help him gain the things he needs to succeed. At times the events in the show can be hard to grasp, but it is engaging enough.

I am sure that these are extreme cases and not all political figures turn to such drastic measures to get what they want. (At least I can hope that most of them are not like this, though I will never know for sure). The actors are invested in the events these characters are experiencing and it is fun to watch.

Thurman is good in this role, though I do think I have seen her give better performances. She has a power and presence that are impossible to ignore, but I still feel she could have done more with the role.

The rest of the cast did wonderful, though the best performance comes from Soo. Her portrayal of Rebecca is believable and she never faltered. She fully embraced the character's experiences. When a plot twist involving her character is revealed, there is nothing to foreshadow this turn of events. (Although this can be attributed to the writing as Chloe is perhaps the only three dimensional character in the play). Still something can be said for throwing the audience through a loop.

This play is interesting and can be engaging, but ultimately not enough for the theatre. With all its similarities this could have worked as an episode of House of Cards or perhaps a spin off series. Not that it was disinteresting, but it definitely would have worked better in a different medium other than the stage.

The technical aspects in this show were truly astonishing. This isn't something I usually focus on, but in this show I had plenty of time to do so.