BY KYLA MORA, ADVISER
I went into the opening performance of the black box theater play 'Anatomy of Gray' not entirely sure what to expect. High school theater usually goes one of two ways -- either too much drama with too little acting, or too much acting with too little drama. I've been to countless plays where students ham up their roles, turning every line into a dramatic declaration when a quiet understatement would do. I've also been to plays where student talent vastly outstripped the material, and where clearly talented student actors were left floundering with material that was too shallow for their skills.
It was a pleasant surprise to find that 'Anatomy of Gray' was neither. The 2014-15 theater season's opening black box offering surprised in all good ways, and offered a talented cast opportunity to stretch their skills.
If you've seen it, you know that 'Anatomy of Gray' is not a simple play. Based on Act I, you may think you know where this is going -- handsome, educated (if somewhat squeamish) doctor miraculously balloon-crashes into a rural town, bringing 20th-century medical concepts to a community firmly entrenched in the 19th. You have your frustrated love triangle with a young girl yearning for freedom, a young man yearning for her attention, a recently widowed mother who only wants the best for her, and the close-knit community members: preacher, farmers, neighbors, friends. You sit back and smile. Okay, got this -- young girl grows up and throws herself at the doctor, who of course falls for her in return (maybe not right away, but eventually), widowed mom moves on with her life, sure, the community maybe isn't a huge fan of the stranger, but it will all work itself out.
And if that's what you tell yourself during Act I, like I did, you realize very quickly just how wrong you are.
'Anatomy of Gray' embraces the gray areas within its plot, and the actors embraced that ambiguity. No one in this play seems to be 100% the good guy or the bad guy, but we do see some of the good and bad of human nature. On top of all of that, the play tackles some seriously meaty issues, like anti-Semitism, looming mortality, the morality of abortion, unrequited love, superstition and uneducated fear, and science vs. religion. It's a lot to fit in to one little black box, and it's absorbing to watch.
Junior Gebrai Spiller turns in a standout performance as the local pastor with kidney stones, who fervently believes that the Bible is the answer, even when mysterious happenings begin to become fatal. Actors Juli Carbajal and Jared Vasquez also turned in impressive performances as Maggie and the formal Dr. Gray, who knows everything there is to know about medicine and bacteria, but is less informed about the more visceral sides of life.
All in all, it was a performance that brought heart and thoughtfulness to the season kickoff. Look for The Wiz to hit the stages later this fall.
I went into the opening performance of the black box theater play 'Anatomy of Gray' not entirely sure what to expect. High school theater usually goes one of two ways -- either too much drama with too little acting, or too much acting with too little drama. I've been to countless plays where students ham up their roles, turning every line into a dramatic declaration when a quiet understatement would do. I've also been to plays where student talent vastly outstripped the material, and where clearly talented student actors were left floundering with material that was too shallow for their skills.
It was a pleasant surprise to find that 'Anatomy of Gray' was neither. The 2014-15 theater season's opening black box offering surprised in all good ways, and offered a talented cast opportunity to stretch their skills.
If you've seen it, you know that 'Anatomy of Gray' is not a simple play. Based on Act I, you may think you know where this is going -- handsome, educated (if somewhat squeamish) doctor miraculously balloon-crashes into a rural town, bringing 20th-century medical concepts to a community firmly entrenched in the 19th. You have your frustrated love triangle with a young girl yearning for freedom, a young man yearning for her attention, a recently widowed mother who only wants the best for her, and the close-knit community members: preacher, farmers, neighbors, friends. You sit back and smile. Okay, got this -- young girl grows up and throws herself at the doctor, who of course falls for her in return (maybe not right away, but eventually), widowed mom moves on with her life, sure, the community maybe isn't a huge fan of the stranger, but it will all work itself out.
And if that's what you tell yourself during Act I, like I did, you realize very quickly just how wrong you are.
'Anatomy of Gray' embraces the gray areas within its plot, and the actors embraced that ambiguity. No one in this play seems to be 100% the good guy or the bad guy, but we do see some of the good and bad of human nature. On top of all of that, the play tackles some seriously meaty issues, like anti-Semitism, looming mortality, the morality of abortion, unrequited love, superstition and uneducated fear, and science vs. religion. It's a lot to fit in to one little black box, and it's absorbing to watch.
Junior Gebrai Spiller turns in a standout performance as the local pastor with kidney stones, who fervently believes that the Bible is the answer, even when mysterious happenings begin to become fatal. Actors Juli Carbajal and Jared Vasquez also turned in impressive performances as Maggie and the formal Dr. Gray, who knows everything there is to know about medicine and bacteria, but is less informed about the more visceral sides of life.
All in all, it was a performance that brought heart and thoughtfulness to the season kickoff. Look for The Wiz to hit the stages later this fall.