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I was unfamiliar with the work of playwright Christopher Durang until last night, and if the rest of his canon is anything like Betty's Summer Vacation, I have to wonder why all the fuss.
Perhaps what I saw Wednesday night at the University of Louisville Playhouse has a point to it that I'm just not getting. Well, that much is clear. I can't for the life of me see what's so damned entertaining about a two-hour freak show populated by grotesque and infantile caricatures (not characters, caricatures) living together in a summer timeshare and constantly alienating each other while a trio of disembodied voices condescendingly and repeatedly tell us how we should feel about what we're seeing.
Screw the voices; I know how I felt about it. At first, that was, "Well, maybe this is an anomaly in Durang's work; everyone in the theatre speaks so highly of him." But no; several knowledgeable friends of mine who were in attendance Wednesday night assure me that it is actually typical Durang.
Then, I and several others thought, "Hmm; maybe it's because this is such a young cast and perhaps they understand their material less than I do." But no; the same trustworthy sources say that yes, Durang is delicate subject matter and that they are so relieved that this cast and this production actually get what they're doing. And by the end of the night, I felt violated, and clearly in the minority; more than anything else, it was the enthusiastic reaction of the audience that left me baffled.
Betty's Summer Vacation is essentially a variation on your classic Elevator Play, which is industry speak for any situation contrived by the playwright in order to throw a group of disparate and mismatched individuals together and watch them squirm. I won't discuss who the various people in this particular elevator (i.e. the time share) are, but in typical Elevator Play fashion, one of them turns out to be a serial killer.
Don't worry; I won't give away who the killer is, or who gets killed, or how the voices are ultimately revealed as a pathetic deus ex machina. By the time the plot got going, I was so repelled by these characters that I'd lost the ability to care about any of this.
To their credit, the cast plays it to the hilt and on a swell cabin set by Michael Hottois, but they are beating a horse that's not merely dead, but decomposing in front of me over the course of the two longest hours of my life. This is quite frankly the ugliest piece of theatre to which I've been subjected since The Eight: Reindeer Monologues.
Durang's idiosyncratic choices of words can only carry the increasingly desperate proceedings so far, and they go on and on, and on, and on, long after any point could have possibly been made. If indeed there is one, I guess it's something to the effect of "don't make friends with people who were abused as children."
I realize that I've spent the vast majority of this page lambasting the play itself and that I have said precious little about this production of it or the people involved, but why make accomplices out of the innocent and misguided? I can only hope the Department chooses better material in the future.
UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE ARTS presents
BETTY'S SUMMER VACATION
By CHRISTOPHER DURANG
Directed by JAMES R. TOMPKINS
Reviewed by Cory Vaughn
Entire contents are copyright © 2010 Cory Vaughn. All rights reserved.
University of Louisville Department of Theatre Arts
2314 S. Floyd St.
Louisville KY 40292
(502) 852-6814
mahenr04@louisville.edu
website
Playing at the Playhouse
1911 South Third Street
Louisville KY 40208
Remaining Performances:
Saturday, February 6th at 8pm, and Sunday, February 7th at 3 pm and 8pm
Ticket Price:
General Public: $12
UofL Faculty and Staff: $10
Students and Senior Citizens: $8
Starring:
Blair Boyd (Voice #2), Gary Brice (Voice #1), Jennifer Day (Mrs. Siezmagraff), Meredith Johnson (Trudy), Michael Mayes (Voice #3), Conrad Newman (Keith), Will Salmons (Mr. Vanislaw), Melony Tisdale (Betty), DeAldon Watson (Buck), with Cory Burks and Hannah Pruitt (Understudies)
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ADD A COMMENT
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Strawberry Burns
sat feb 06 2010
at 5:05 pm
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I was supposed to go see this with a group. I belong to an organization that Jennifer Day also belongs to and we were going to go as a show of support for her. Live theater is hard for me due to being 50%+ deaf...no subtitles in live theater. I opted not to go. I got excited when I saw a review on here...till I read the review. Aside from the subject matter can you tell me how Jennifer Day's performance is??? |
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Joey N. Welsh
sat feb 06 2010
at 8:43 pm
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To S-berry Burns: Jennifer Day did a great job with the material handed to her; actually, I think the whole cast was an effective ensemble.
Unfortunately, the script was awful. Cory Vaughn's review is on point. People applauded to be supportive of friends and family. The mother of a member of the company was seated next to me. She was mortified by the production, but she applauded the hard work of everyone involved.
I imagine that any audience member who has been the victim of rape or incest, or had a family member who was murdered or dismembered, had an excruciating time. I don't even know how to get into the mood necessary to enjoy a play that goes to such bleak places and treats them as farce.
I would never support censorship, but there clearly are some plays I would hope never to see again, no matter how adept the cast is -- and the cast on Wednesday night was quite energetic and adept. |
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John Chase #323403
mon feb 08 2010
at 3:59 am
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In my recent attendance of Betty’s Summer Vacation at the University of Louisville, I, being familiar with the play, was not surprised at the number of audience members who were disapproving of its content. As I stood outside at intermission, I watched as nearly fifteen people left, one them stating, “I don’t think this garbage is going anywhere but into the gutter.” Others said things like, “I think this is bad writing,” and forgave the actors for the innocence in the endeavor. This general response very much sums up the opinions posited in Mr. Vaughn’s review. I, as mentioned before, knew the resolution of the play and was hopeful of a change of heart in the audience members who chose to stick around for the conclusion. However, much to my dismay, the opinions I heard voiced from the crowd around me afterwards were perhaps more outraged and alienated than even the ones I heard at intermission. What really blew my mind, was how a message that I thought was quite clear in the writing and the staging of the piece could slip by so many people, including Mr. Vaughn, a reviewer of theatre. I will grant that rape, murder, dismemberment, alcoholism, and many of the other themes touched on in the play are not laughing matters, but I certainly do not believe, in fact I know, that Mr. Durang and Director Jim Tompkins do not consider them so either. However, based on what litters the television screens of Americans, I think Mr. Durang is spot on in his writing and Tompkins in his staging, with the idea that such desperate human conditions are exploited and perverted for our amusement everyday. In fact, I would bet that the audience members who left the show at intermission, went home and turned on the television on to Entertainment Tonight to see what celebs are screwing who or perhaps to the truTV channel to watch a real live rapist in action and justify their fascination with such a disgusting glorification by cheering for the arresting police officers. Boys and girls, Betty’s Summer Vacation straddles the line of exploitation of human folly and brilliant comedy, and it makes a poignant statement about the grotesque, voyeuristic state of much of the so called entertainment industry of American culture. It does so through an ancient art form historically practiced by the likes of Saint Thomas More, Mark Twain, Langston Hughes, Kurt Vonnegut, and many others, an art form called satire. And it does so quite effectively, and that Mr. Vaughn is what I belie |
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John Chase #323403
mon feb 08 2010
at 4:01 am
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...Continued.
believe to be the point. I do not believe that it is “[not to] make friends with people who were abused as children," although I am sure that such an idea has a higher moral and ethical value than any of the themes explored in the art of Durang, Tomkins, and the exemplary cast of Betty’s Summer Vacation. |
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Gordon Andull #323696
thu feb 11 2010
at 10:22 am
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It seems to me that someone who reviews a production should, in fact, review the production and the not the script itself. If people are offended by a show, it's their own fault for not being educated on the content before they arrived (unless it is an original piece). Betty has been published and available for at least a decade and at this point should not be a surprise (in terms of content) to anyone. It's unfair to the rest of the production to judge on content that has been readily available. I am a believer of theatre being a participatory event, in which the audience doesn't necessarily have to be in suspense in order to enjoy themselves. Like John Chase states, the situations presented are all reflections of common news features which are broadcast all over the world all the time. As far as attributing the performance to the script, Vaughn clearly fails in his ability to correctly review the production for the public. The performances, aside from Day's (Mrs. Seizmagraff) obvious struggle to remember and correctly say her lines, were quite appropriate for the production. It is clear the actors knew what they were doing, something Vaughn refuses to let them have.
My hope is that Theatre Louisville makes sure there Reviewers understand what it means to review a show and that this blatant display of misunderstanding what a performance truly is does not help to ruin the internet anymore than it has been. |
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Theatre Lou.
thu feb 11 2010
at 1:12 pm
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First, I will critique the critiquers. Ever hear o the paragraph break? Might be a bit easier to read your responses.
Next, there is nothing wrong with reviewing a script. In fact, I found it very informative. It is refreshing to read about how a play affects the reviewer, unlike other publications' reviews which often merely rehash the plot and dole out empty praise.
Mr. Vaughn has an impressive career in the theatre. He has seen and acted in countless theatre productions, and has studied the craft at the UofL.
I respect his opinion and appreciate his honesty. When he likes a show, he is not shy about telling us. Similarly, when a production or play disappoints, he lays it on the line, and backs it up with concrete examples.
You may not agree with everything our reviewers say, and that's great. We don't want you to. Everyone has a different viewpoint. Further, every performance is different.
You may have seen a show on a night where everything was going wrong, while the reviewer saw an entirely different show. Sometimes, the cast members are not the same ones seen by the reviewer.
Our goal is to serve as a mirror to the theatre companies, and a window to the audience. We aim to provide a record of local theatre.
As I have often said, you may not like my review, and I may be wrong. I might change my opinion about a show days after I have posted a review. But at least we make people think about the show.
- Sherry Deatrick, Theatre Louisville |
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Theatre Lou.
thu feb 11 2010
at 1:38 pm
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Cont'd: When I attended the NEA/USC Fellowship in Theatre Criticism, I learned from John Lahr (who writes for the New Yorker and has authored many books on theatre) that the critic's job is to "animate the memory" of the experience of seeing the play.
We're not reporters. We’re storytellers. We tell what the play is about (not just the plot), where it comes from, how it fits into community and what we think of it.
Most reviews are too formulaic. They're also dull as dishwater. We are interpreters who know more than just "this happened, and then that happened, and so-and-so was 'convincing' as Hamlet." What does it mean to be 'convincing?' That tells me nothing.
Try this out next time you go to the theatre: Any good playwright will tell you the theme in the first 40 seconds. See if you can get it. If not, there's something wrong with the play.
Example: Joe Orton's “Loot” is satire of credulity. The first words are “Wake up, stop dreaming.” These are also similar to the first words of "Raisin in the Sun," but with a different meaning. "Wake up. Come on now, honey. Get up!" The theme here is about standing up to racism.
Clearly, our job is as critics is to provide insight and tell you why or why not this show has relevance to the audience. Your time is valuable. Life is too short to sit through a bad play. And money is too tight to waste it on one that is not worthy of your attention. We try to help the reader make an informed decision about what IS worth it.
S. Deatrick |
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Joey N. Welsh
fri feb 12 2010
at 11:18 am
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Thank you, Sherry, for the analysis and for your thoughts on the context of reviews. I appreciate your contribution to this series of comments. |
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