It certainly appears that those involved in the production of plays at DCP thoroughly enjoy themselves. But my husband and me in the audience? --- not so much.
I got a subscription to 4 plays at DCP for 2017.
I have probably been to 100 or more plays in my lifetime, from professional to community theatre, college theatre, children's theatre, small and large, in the city, suburbs and country, musicals, drama, comedy...... I really cannot remember ever not enjoying a show. This year with DCP has changed that.
Perhaps it was just something I didn't realize. Maybe this is theatre expressly for the friends and family of the players. How could one not enjoy a performance by an aunt, brother, mother or father? But if you're not a relative or friend, it's something entirely different.
The first play we saw was Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing', a play we've actually seen multiple times. The acting overall was poor and the costumes horrendous. Everyone dressed in tight black pants and way-too-short black polo shirts? The 2 main characters, hefty in their appearance, looked more like Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum than Shakespearian performers. Was this Shakespeare or a beatnik poetry reading? The addition of modern day machine guns to the costuming of the police was absurd. The only good thing in this show was the actor who played Dogberry. I'm afraid my husband and I walked away from this show stunned at its total lack of credibility and hoped the next plays would be better.
The next play was better, Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None'. The acting was better, costumes and set design were nice. We thought, ok, this group just shouldn't do Shakespeare, it's out of their league.
The next play was 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'. This might have been a better show if it wasn't so l-o-n-g and d-r-a-w-n o-u-t, and if the main action of the players wasn't continually wiping tables. The actors' performances were pretty good, but the l-o-n-g music sequences, most of which accompanied nothing going on on stage were entirely meaningless. I know people around us were falling asleep. The music chosen wasn't even particularly meaningful or associated to the play; it was just unbearably long and slow. It took 3 long hours to get to the end, and we were like, please let the last show be good!
Alas, no. The last show was so bad, we actually discussed leaving at intermission. We had never in our lives done that before, or even thought about it. But, we decided to stay. This show was 'The Last 5 Years'. It wasn't until the last 5 minutes that I realized the 2 sole characters' story lines were moving through time differently; one going back and one moving forward. The entire play just seemed to me to be random songs. And it was ALL songs with almost no dialogue. Once again, the costumes sucked. They weren't costumes; it looked like they just threw on whatever happened to be lying around, including what may have been in the hamper. The set was plain. I'll grant you, the singing was fine, but let me ask you this - how believable is a dramatic romantic musical male lead, supposed to be aging from 23 to 28, who looks like Newman from Seinfeld? And his wife/girlfriend somewhat similarly miscast. I'm not sure I would've liked this show no matter who was playing in it or directing it or costuming it, but if one is choosing a play for this particular drama group, at least pick a play that suits its players!
My husband and I walked away from these performances noting that even the young children's productions we've seen in the past were far better than these. Small budgets are no excuse, for I have seen amateur productions put together on a shoestring; with creativity, imagination, thrift store finds, and reasonable sewing skills, a great production can be achieved.
It might be more to this venue's abilities to try doing some comedy, seriously. read more
