| Spring Performance Festival -- ODU | | Print | |
| Written by Ronnie Pirate | |
| Saturday, 08 April 2006 | |
 When you think of student directed pieces you expect tentative actors fumbling with lines, props misbehaving, scenery of a sophomoric nature, and costumes of dubious accuracy and appropriateness. This year's crop of young directors at Old Dominion University manage to eliminate almost all of these elements in their pieces, and have put together some interesting and entertaining work. There is a great deal of promise and potential that a little more study and a few more shows under the belt will refine into a group of talented, creative, and eager young professionals. For now, they are to be complimented for making strong, clear choices with their cast and crew. Directing peers is never easy, and often requires more justification of your directorial statement than directing strangers or paid players.
The theme for this year's collection is "In Your Life", and although not every piece fits as easily into the seemingly universal concept that would imply, the production design is very professional and reflects well on Christiano Cole, who is the producer of the series. There is a web page http://www.springperformancefestival.com of impressive design highlighting the festival and each show, complementary art and masks in the theater lobby, and a well designed set that served every piece superbly. Using a single space for multiple shows is quite a challenge, especially when the audience is on three sides; however, the set design and lighting was effectively designed and well utilized by each director. This speaks well of the preproduction team and planning on part of the directors. So lets look at the pieces themselves, starting with "It's Not You" directed by Natalie D. Levy. In this piece, a young couple breaks up with a friend in order to better head in the direction they feel their lives are headed. Levy has a good sense of pacing, found nice comedic moments, and cast her show well. Her staging is effective and choice of costume appropriate. Jordan Noble is as solid as he has been in previous SPFs, playing to his hormonal girlfriend, neatly carried off by Katherine N. Schulze. Aly Pantas is energetic and effective as the favored friend, and rejected friend Shela Maung delivers her lines with the appropriate outrage, although her diction sometimes suffers from her emotions. There are also several ensemble players who are interesting to watch as well without playing to extremes and pulling focus. Dave Hobbs directed "A Game", a challenging piece in which three guys are subjected to an experiment to see what happens when ownership of a locked room is divided up amongst them. The men eventually resort to the means that we expect of them in order to secure the best area. Think of it as Horovitz's "Line" with just half the cast. The standout is Carter, enthusiastically portrayed by Jon Norton. While he is very expressive physically and vocally, I hope he doesn't start to play to the audiences’ reactions. R.C. LeClaire and Gori Olufon are equally balanced, scheming, and manipulative, working well with Norton and Mragehdra Singh, who plays the man running the experiment. While the characters start out as the same stooge, Hobbs is able to get each one to find a slightly different tactic in order to get what they want. I would like to see him take his good choices farther and see how far he can get the cast to go. The trick to this play is the steady progression towards the predictable, and hopefully unnerving end by the destruction of the doofs we see at the beginning. The combat is effective though a little timidly carried out, and the guys drive the play along steadily to the violent conclusion. "The Progress of Affection" was directed as well as written by Amy Repak. It is a well-staged, well-cast piece that could be improved by expanding the length of the script. The story moves along a little too quickly for the audience to really ponder the issues her characters struggle with. Her use of video was a fun choice that added a different touch to the piece. Lindsey Carey is the glue of this show and creates some very genuine and touching moments as her character deals with an ill father as well as her own illness. Carey is able to get the most results with the least amount of work. Amanda Fulk, Nancy Dickerson, and Melissa Carroll fill in nicely as mother, sister, and Doctor respectively. Finally, though really I should say interspersed, throughout the other shows is a mask performance directed by Sarah Bailey. Bobby Mercer is the strongest of this cast, as he consistently tries to use as much of his full body to convey his character in the abbreviated archetypal story. The other performers: Matthew Galloway, Maria Gipson, April Shannon, and Jon Norton rely too much on subtlety of movement to convey ideas, when really the exact opposite is needed. Bailey should be commended for the prep work she has done on this piece, and it will be interesting to see where she heads with her ideas. Though not yet professionals, these directors are a thoughtful group that are worth taking a look at. The shows move quick and are fun to watch, especially with a collegiate crowd that cheers friends doing scene changes as much as the shows themselves. A fun night in a fun and growing corner of the campus.
Performances: April 7, 8, 11 - 15 at 8 p.m., April 9 at 2:30 p.m.
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