On Saturday night, Coho Productions put on their 8th installment of "24 hour plays", where they lock a bunch of actors and four writers into the theatre for a night and what comes out is some, well, experimental pieces. Some had the potential to go somewhere (full length play, more developed story), while some definitely fall short of what is expected from a generally avant-garde, insightful production house. Saying that, I still appreciate what Coho is trying to do, gathering up local talent that otherwise wouldn't have an outlet in any professional sense. There is the other side though too, that sometimes people, especially theatre people, need to know when it is time to give it up.
Last weekend's installment fits up to that general notion. Check out the review of each play after the jump.
The first play, Olympic Gold by Nick James was probably the least developed and thoughtful of the bunch. 4 athletes at the Olympics are being interviewed by a news broadcaster and things go awry, both in the story and with the idea itself. It seemed, by the end, to go by the mantra, "if all else fails, go for the sex jokes." For the most part, those weren't funny either. Unfortunately this one seemed to have the least experienced actors along with it, making the audience watch while actors undoubtedly stumble on their lines is one thing (something I understand that is to be expected given the circumstance) but their was no real charisma of any of the characters and it showed in the acting.
Never Die Young by Shelly Lipkin, a look into a reunion of three friends, had the most potential to be something more than it was, giving a hint of characters with strong backgrounds, and producing a problem that everyone can relate to (one character was planning on committing suicide). And hey, I can deal with the word fuck a lot, I like the word even, but used as a fine garish on eloquent diction, not saturated like grease on a fuckin' hamburger (see!).
Meet the Lesbians by Josh Gross (full disclosure here: I know this guy personally) was a turn of the tables little tale about a lesbian couple moving to a rural area to "help the cause." While Gross weaved in some pretty clever double entrendres and all around had a strong point to his story, the audience could definitely tell that some parts were merely contrived to fill space and get some of the actors speaking lines (this play had 9 actors in it).
Secrets by Philip Meyer was a segmented cluster fuck of a one-act. Though this one had probably the strongest actors of the bunch, they weren't given their due by constantly dodging in and out of several stories and character examinations revolving around keeping secrets. If you are going to write a one-act with several characters and a time limit of 30 minutes, wouldn't it behoove you to have one really amazing story that can (or has a better chance of) going deep, inside of three that just skim the surface? Maybe Meyer was just trying to be "experimental" like I said, but one of those stories, if expanded, could have been much more entertaining to watch.
