Spring Break
The Daily OrangeStage adaptation's dialogue-driven stories cloud solid acting
By Kelly Outram
Posted: 10/13/08, 4:25 AM EST Section: Feature
The chemistry between Brown and Travis made the play; their body language was more telling than the dialogue. In a story driven by dialogue - which at times was a little hard to follow - the interaction between characters was key.
While Brown and Travis worked well to create a heart-wrenching love story, the characters of Ryder and Molly (Ryder's fiancée) seemed lacking. This relationship was the opposite of Ryder and Liza, because the audience had to pay more attention to the dialogue to know what was going on between the characters. Their love seemed more businesslike than anything else. The contrast between the two couples ends up being significant to the main plot.
Although those aspects of the set were good, they couldn't completely redeem the wordiness that clouded the start of the play. The passion of the first half of their show couldn't make its way through the mulling dialogue. The reliance on dialogue asked a lot of concentration from the audience. At times there was simply too much dialogue, causing the whole play to drag on.
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"Sweat," though wordy, was all about body movements and facial expressions.
Director and senior acting and political science major James Miller expressed "Sweat" through synchronized body movements.
"Sweat" tells the story of a battered wife, Delia Jones (junior Lauren Krystal Waters) who decides to stand up for herself against her unfaithful and violent husband, Sykes (graduate student Ryan Travis).
Travis plays the unlikable and seemingly thuggish Sykes perfectly. He lets everything speak for itself, from his body movements and walk to his facial expressions.
Waters' often complacent but suffering facial expressions personified a woman at wits' end with her marriage but afraid to stand up for herself. Her tolerant attitude is frustrating when one wants to see her give Sykes what he deserved at the beginning of the play.
Although there were only three main characters, a cast of 10 played the townspeople. The large cast often echoed key words like "sweat" and "blood," which added to the play's small-town feel. The narration by various characters kept the audience engaged.
This play surpassed "Blue Vein Society" because the cast spoke directly to the audience rather than each other. Rather than pushing each other in certain scenes, characters pushed against the air toward the audience.
The spiritual songs the cast sang added to the triumphant feel of the story. Also, the way the entire cast moved along with the main characters livened up the story and made the audience feel like more than spectators.
While this one-act play was more engaging, that aspect sometimes took over, making it rely too much on the body movement. Inevitably, that made the show harder to follow.
While Brown and Travis worked well to create a heart-wrenching love story, the characters of Ryder and Molly (Ryder's fiancée) seemed lacking. This relationship was the opposite of Ryder and Liza, because the audience had to pay more attention to the dialogue to know what was going on between the characters. Their love seemed more businesslike than anything else. The contrast between the two couples ends up being significant to the main plot.
Although those aspects of the set were good, they couldn't completely redeem the wordiness that clouded the start of the play. The passion of the first half of their show couldn't make its way through the mulling dialogue. The reliance on dialogue asked a lot of concentration from the audience. At times there was simply too much dialogue, causing the whole play to drag on.
****************************************************************
"Sweat," though wordy, was all about body movements and facial expressions.
Director and senior acting and political science major James Miller expressed "Sweat" through synchronized body movements.
"Sweat" tells the story of a battered wife, Delia Jones (junior Lauren Krystal Waters) who decides to stand up for herself against her unfaithful and violent husband, Sykes (graduate student Ryan Travis).
Travis plays the unlikable and seemingly thuggish Sykes perfectly. He lets everything speak for itself, from his body movements and walk to his facial expressions.
Waters' often complacent but suffering facial expressions personified a woman at wits' end with her marriage but afraid to stand up for herself. Her tolerant attitude is frustrating when one wants to see her give Sykes what he deserved at the beginning of the play.
Although there were only three main characters, a cast of 10 played the townspeople. The large cast often echoed key words like "sweat" and "blood," which added to the play's small-town feel. The narration by various characters kept the audience engaged.
This play surpassed "Blue Vein Society" because the cast spoke directly to the audience rather than each other. Rather than pushing each other in certain scenes, characters pushed against the air toward the audience.
The spiritual songs the cast sang added to the triumphant feel of the story. Also, the way the entire cast moved along with the main characters livened up the story and made the audience feel like more than spectators.
While this one-act play was more engaging, that aspect sometimes took over, making it rely too much on the body movement. Inevitably, that made the show harder to follow.
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