Culture

Coordinated by Simon O’Connor, Jordan Watts, and Anna Wood
Written by Jeff Heneberry, Angela Band, Anna Woods, Emily Butler Monroe, and Abby Howells
Directed by Joanne Bond, Vickie Cross, Paul Rothwell, Abby Howells, and Jordan Watts
Starring Maryse Ridler, Joanne Bond, Susanna Mangos, Alex Wilson, Jimmy Curran, Hana Aoake, and Jack Montgomerie
(3.5/5)

 
 
He said … She said … They said … consisted of five vignettes, written by the members of the THEA 241 playwriting class of 2010, which oozed with the imagination of fresh writers. As the pieces stood alone in the performance, I see it as only fair that I address them in the same vein in this review. 
Jonathan Needs to Pee gave us a glimpse of the internal monologue, through external commentary, of Jonathan’s (Bond) inescapably full bladder. Bond’s highly gestured comic acting, along with Ridler’s smooth English accent, delivered a wonderful performance that Heneberry’s script deserved. 
Untitled challenged the default narrative style we are used to and drew the audience into a young woman’s diary as she relived the last moments that she had with her love Drew before the earthquake hit Santiago, Chile. The actors gave romantic life to this diary entry, but some of the more emotional moments were over-embellished. 
Gary humbly voiced the perspective of the divorced male who has lost contact with his wife and kids, with the audience taking the part of his fellow bus passenger. The restrictive setting of the bus functioned as a third character that coloured the rest of the world in this scene.
That’s Weird, on the other hand, did not give us any idea of setting and it was hard to keep up with the specifics of the story that were subtly leading to a creepy revelation. The double percussive “so she said … and then I said” moments were most enjoyable and could have been made more of given their direct allusion to the title of the performance.
Lastly, Future Memoirs self-reflexively commented upon the life of an arts student – something that most of the audience could relate to in some way. Howells’ script and Montgomerie’s performance were both delightful. 
My only quibble was the need for a change in the routine in the middle of most of the pieces. However, this performance is an awesome idea that allows writers and directors to experience their work onstage in a safe environment. I thoroughly enjoyed the assertions of originality in both the scripts and the direction and I hope that it is the beginning of an annual ritual where we are offered a taste of the offerings of our fresh playwrights.