Venue: Temple University Randall Theatre in Philadelphia, PA

Date: 02/02/2025

Oh boy, this play was something.  This play was a new works piece that was written by one of the MFA Playwrighting canadites at TU. This was the first time that this piece was produced. And in my opinion it should be the only time this play is produced. Between the extremely graphic explanation of alien genitalia, and a cat that overthrows a government this play is not something that barley legal adults should be cast in. 

The first half of this play was fine. A husband and wife land on a new planet and begin the colonization process. With a few innuendos here and there, it does very little to prepare the audience for what is about to come. When the husband finds an alien, it becomes extremely apparent that he wants to bang this alien. With the skin tight sexualize costume that this poor actress had to wear she is then thrown into various sex positions by 'happen circumstance'. We as the audience soon learn that her species has to have sex, because of course they do. Although the husband stays strong for a bit, he convinces his wife to open up there marriage. This of course back fires for the husband, as the wife now begins to bang the alien. Oh and by the way, while all of this is happening, their cat is overthrowing the alien government. But this happens all of stage and we only hear about through the gossip of the alien girl.

Production wise this play did nothing wrong. Being a new works piece, they were on a grassroots level in terms of budget. A simple set making out a space house did a good job of giving the impression of home away from home. The lighting was adequate. It was simple and safe, but honestly I'm not sure how much more you could do with a script like this.

Venue: Temple University Randall Theatre in Philadelphia, PA

Date: 02/01/2025

This was a new works piece that was produced at Temple University by one of the MFA Playwriting candidates. This was the first time that this play has been produced. This story follows a Jewish family during one of their family member's Shiva.

A very non nuclear Jewish family is brought together by the death of one of their family members. We quickly learn that this family member is the eldest son to a chemical addicted mother, and an abusive father. After moving out he commits himself to orthodox Judaism. However suffering from alcohol addition he drinks himself to death. Most of the play is spent arguing between family members as they bicker about who's fault it is that he drank so much, and how the mother and father failed the whole family. The ending of this play is somewhat anticlimactic as everyone essentially storms off to mourn in their own way.

Production wise this play was very grass roots. With a low budget they were still able to make the basic form of a house, having half walls closing in the space and enough furniture for everyone to sit on it gave plenty of versitility. There was very little lighitng throughout the whole play, only a few looks to bring the audience along for the ride. There was one moment when 'lighting' struck that it felt as though the sound cue was called late. I suspect this was an attempt to make realistic lighting before the thunder.

Venue: Ambassador Theatre in New York, NY

Date: 01/18/2025

The longest running musical on Broadway is an all time classic. If you are reading this, I'm assuming that you are a theatre nerd, and have definlty heard of Chicago. A borderline burlesque show gives the audience a musical journey through the lives of serveral criminal women.

Production wise this is a very iconic set. The shoebox! When first walking into the theatre, having the curtain rise and seeing the set. I'll be honest I was a little bit disapointed in the set. It's just a box. However throughout the show they used this set so well! With so many levels, pianos that the dancers could dance on, and interacting with the conductor himself. For a reletivly simple set, it was very versitle. And worked well for the almost vinette style show. Costume wise I did apprechiate the all black costumes. I think they could have been a bit less skimpy, but it did work well for the vibe that it was trying to set. Lighting wise it was a very consiste piece. With what appeared from my seat a simple lighting rig, it certainly gave exatly what you'd expect. A predictable, but beatiful world was built from the lighting. Using the typical spotlight and was setup, the designer was able to help transport the audience into feeling like the world was interacting the characters.