Last semester I took THEA 100 because I enjoy theater and thought that it would be a fun Gen Ed to take. The class required everyone to watch three plays. Two were assigned, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” and “Wild Party.” The third one could be any theatrical performance of my choice throughout the semester. I ended up going to two plays and one comedy show. The comedy show will not be included in the ranking as it was not a performance done by students at Penn State. The two plays that I did see for “pleasure” were “Little Women” and “A Midnight Summer’s Dream.” Click on the titles to see a small synopsis of what each play is about. Now onto the rankings!
To kick things off, I also seemed to have gotten the worst seats ever, but not because of the view. I genuinely do not know if the boys sitting next to me were middle schoolers or college students. During the first half of the play, they chatted the whole time, but the worst part was when one of them decided to start listening to music in their headphones so loud that everyone in the vicinity could hear. There was an empty seat at the end of my row, so at one point when actors were running off stage, I quickly moved into the seat to feel like I was away from the boys. I was so annoyed that I could not focus on the play.
I was distracted that it got to the point that I thought the fairies were supposed to be clowns all the way up until the end of the second act. I had no idea what was going on. Apparently the main characters were charmed? The only parts I could understand at first had to do with sex (I think), so I thought that the romance was the whole plot of why the characters were fighting. Spoiler alert, it was not. There was another point where someone was holding a flower and another person seemed to be receiving some magic from it. I just remembered thinking that it looked like “Tangled” meets “Avatar.” The scene did look cool, though!
The second act came and I was highly debating on leaving and part of me is glad I didn’t because I ended up understanding the end of the play. Shakespeare is seriously confusing, ladies. Unfortunately though, the boys next to me made me wish I had left. Because I had moved down a seat, they invited one of their friends to sit in my original seat. I moved to get away from them, not to invite another delinquent to the equation. Primarily, they are the reason that I did not enjoy the play.
I would like to end this one with saying that this was mainly just from my experience and had nothing to do with the performance. Due to the atmosphere around me, it was extremely hard to pay attention, but I do want to note some things that I did enjoy. There is a specific scene where three of the main characters fight while a fourth character cowers in fear. I remember thinking about how well done that scene was. So many things can go wrong when portrayed a violent scene and while the actors made it look real, everything was done carefully so that no one was hurt.
I also loved Hermia’s costume. It was a black dress with polka dot sleeves and I honestly wanted it for myself. Lastly, walking into the play, the first thing you could see was floating chairs which I thought was really interesting. I liked that although the set was small, it definitely made you wonder what was going to happen. Again, this play mainly got the short end of the stick due to things outside of the performance itself, absolutely no hate to anyone that was involved in the production. Everytime I go see a play at Penn State I wonder where my talent is because the performers are incredible and this one was no different, even if the experience wasn’t great.
I liked this play, but I was underwhelmed. I think a big part of this had to do with how small the stage was. There was little room for a set change and this was noticeable during the scenes where Jo is in New York. All they did was add a desk to the side which made it slightly confusing at times. I will say that I specifically thought Jo was casted perfectly. I truly felt that the actress was able to show the character’s full personality and intentions while onstage. Her voice was incredible and she truly stood out. I know she was the main character so it’s easy to say that, but it’s true. She really was an amazing performer. I will be honest, I did think the chemistry was off between some of the characters, which was a bit disappointing. However, one of the most important relationships in the play is between Jo and Beth. I think that the two actresses did a great job showcasing their sisterly relationship. I even teared up a bit when Beth died. Overall, it was a decent performance, and only five bucks!
2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
My dad was coming down to State College during the opening weekend for this play so I bought a ticket for him to go with me. I had no idea what to expect and the title definitely made me wonder why on earth my professor wanted his students to watch this performance. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I did not expect to like it. In fact, I can hear my dad saying over and over again that the actor who played Christopher deserved an Emmy for his performance. I have to agree that he did a phenomenal job. The acting of this play was incredible all around. The three characters that specifically stood out were Christopher, the narrator, and Christopher’s mom. I thought those three actors really embodied their characters. The one thing that I didn’t like was the use of people for props. It was confusing to follow at times. I just felt like there was so much room to use on stage that there could be more of an actual setting rather than just using people to be inanimate items such as a microwave. Besides that, it was a great performance. I would’ve put it at number one, but the next one can’t be beat.
Oh my God. This play has me speechless, I would be lying if I said I didn’t debate buying another ticket to go see this again. My professor had sent out an email saying that this was the best play he had ever seen at Penn State so I had high expectations. These actors took my breath away and had me wondering what the purpose of my life is because they are 18-22 year olds who can dance, sing and act like their entire life depends on it. Here I am simply writing about them at 12:30 a.m. while still not knowing what I’m going to have for dinner.
I am a firm believer that where you sit matters. I sat exactly in the middle and there were many times where the actors were directing their eye contact on me and it added so much to the experience of the performance. Three things stood out to me. I know I keep saying that the main characters are perfectly casted, but they are. The actress who played Queenie, although she has an amazing voice, I firmly believe she sold this whole performance simply with facial expressions. Her character seemed to always have a smirk on her face and whenever she looked at me with that smirk and heavy eye contact I would blush harshly out of nervousness. She probably couldn’t even see the audience, but I seriously felt like she was staring into my soul and ready to expose my whole life. Second, the actor and actress who played Mr. Black and Kate had the most amazing voices ever. I could listen to them all day everyday. Both of them need to share their talent on YouTube or Spotify or something. They would be playing on repeat all day. Finally, the dancers were already fantastic, but they were in heels. I can’t even walk in heels and you’re telling me they were dancing in them? These weren’t small dance moves either. It was so impressive and humbling.
I have no criticisms for this play. Everything was amazing. If any of the performers from this particular play would like to point me in the direction of who gave them the audacity to be that talented, that would be great. I really need to know.
I don’t know what I was expecting from the Penn State theater program, but I didn’t think I would enjoy going to these plays as much as I did. Sometimes they were the only things I looked forward to. I just took this class for fun, but I’m glad I did. I was required to go to some of these productions, but if I can, I would love to see as many plays as I can on campus. As I said, they were something I looked forward to and there was not one bad production listed here. I know I said a lot about my least favorite, but I promise I still laughed and enjoyed myself through many parts. Annoying people just had to ruin it. Don’t be like them, please. Overall, Penn State’s theater program is promising and if you enjoy watching plays, you probably will enjoy one of their performances. Definitely recommend!