Megacosm

A Red Orchid Theater

We chose this theater/play because it is really, really close to our apartment. We wanted to go local. And, also, we've seen actors we like in other plays mention in their bios that they've done work here. So, we were like, "Is there a jewel in our midst?"

My partner really liked this play. He tends to like chaotic, kind of zany comedy that's a little bit out there. This may be his favorite play in awhile.

I, uhm, wasn't so on board. It was too chaotic. It didn't survive the test, when you walked out, of you being really able to give a nutshell account of what it was about. I think it needs more editing. It seems like something that was more a work in progress that needed some clean up, honestly, than a finished, polished product. And, I get that there was a campy element to it. But, camp is something you intentionally add after you polish. Not something you keep in, because you haven't polished, yet.

The pacing of the direction played into the chaos. The lines were delivered kind of fast. It was jerky.

I really like the main actor. We saw him over at Steppenwolf last season. I won't mention his name. I will not let this come up when he gets googled. Two things, though. In both productions, his costumes could have been/should have been more tailored. It's like he lost weight and hasn't updated his measurements when he tells the costume director. When he's playing a cop or a rich executive - both characters which are likely to have well-tailored clothes or uniforms, that's distracting, actually. And, then also, if there was one word of advice from someone who has seen hundreds of plays - and I hate to do this, I'm so sorry I never do - it's not my place - he needs to put a small beat pause in before his lines. He's delivering his lines, but it doesn't feel like he's interacting because there is a beat pause when people are listening to others before they respond. And, that little pause that makes the interaction seem real is missing. He's doing monologue in dialogue places.

That last point helped this play to feel even more chaotic. Because there was a lot of delivery, but not a lot of response time - leaving the audience without the ability to really take in and process the play as it was going on.

I could dig through my mind and try and sort out what the play was about - okay I'll do it, because I'm being so hard on it and it's not really fair if I don't do the work on my end.

Owner of a big corporate manufacturing plant and company who is running a business that pays no regard to what is right, but is only run according to the purist capitalist principles (i.e. can I make a profit on this?) is approached by an inventor with an amazing invention. He's actually recreated life, miniature people. Faced with this opportunity of buying this invention and reproducing it and selling it to the mass public, this miracle of life, this God-like invention, immediately starts to go off-path. It is diluted, cheapened, corrupted, harmed even before the contract has been signed. People are dying for the cheapest pleasures, really, in this big, capitalist scheme.

Will the inventor sign, what is his price, to give over his invention? Will he do it? Does everyone have a price? What is the fate of this God-like invention? The inventor? Will the owner of the factory get his comeuppance?

As a side story, there is a worker protest/revolt going on throughout the factory. I say side story, missiles are constantly being launched. The factory is under attack. Weird worker coups are taking place. The misdeeds and the ethical bankruptcy are about to ruin the owner. The area is under active attack while this whole thing is taking place. It's a war zone, even if it's not called that, exactly.

We'll go back to this theater probably two more times, I'd say, just to see. Hopefully, this next play is amazing. I'm not ready to write it off, yet. But, what I've seen so far - uhm,...not amazing. That said, I think it was new work. And, there is a risk in new work. I like to cook new recipes...for dinner parties. And, you know what? They don't all work out. That's the risk of new theater. Some of it will be great. Some will be okay. Some is just an experiment. It's just hard to be on that journey sometimes. But, life should be a blend of tried-and-true and new. This rounds us out, I guess.