ENglish Is A FoReign LangUage
Fall play addresses learning disabilities
Sandy Sternitzky
Issue date: 11/13/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Praise goes out to Chris Wray in his assumed last performance here at Lakeland. He's appeared in multiple productions and this has been his best performance yet.
The play was about people, primarily college students, who have learning disabilities. Wray portrayed his character, John with a great amount of hard work and enthusiasm.
The tension that happened between John and Ellen, played by Katelyn Gussert, was easily seen and felt. Also the frustration of John having a memory problem inflicted upon him by a car accident was greatly experienced.
New to the world of acting, Michael Huber, who played Ray, was admired for his new forte among fellow actors and also audience members. He seemed like a natural. The anger that he felt when he didn't get his license and other binds that he was in, such as his difficulty with reading and writing, showed. It's easy to say that Lakeland will be seeing him in more productions in the very near future.
It might sound odd that Jason Ehlenfeldt played a character named Jason and that Tiffany Kelley played a character name Kelly. But that didn't take away from the performance. Both parts were played acceptably for each of the characters.
Improved acting by Katrina Johnson, who played Sylvia, is something to look forward to in future productions here at Lakeland. She did do a good job, but it would have benefitted the audience to see more of Sylvia's annoyance with the support group before she started drinking. The drunken episode would have had a greater effect.
Bridget Johnston is one-of-a-kind. After appearing in several other performances here over the last few years, she has become a natural at acting. Playing a director isn't simple, but Johnston made it look that way.
The little slips of comedic lines throughout the entire play were what kept people more focused on the story. Lines such as "We all know writers are spies, so relax," and "I was so into my crayons. I mean Crayola is my favorite," were ones that made the audience thirsty for more comedy.
This performance was intended to be a play within a play. It was hard to grasp that at first, but after awhile, it was less complicated as the play went on. It was good to see that the last scene of the play was really the last scene of the play in the play.
This play production was very difficult to perform for any actor at any level. Many audience members seemed to be bored with the play. It was a big let-down to see people text messaging, talking, and even sleeping during the performance. Please show some courtesy! It not only distracted other people in the audience, it must have distracted the actors on stage immensely.
The audience was packed with students and faculty on the Thursday night opener, which was a little bit surprising. But it was upsetting to see that the seventy-five or so people who showed up on Saturday night consisted primarily of parents and other family members.
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