Rubber Room #5: Taking the Fifth

February 11, 2011 7:00pm show

Larissa:    Abby Lee
Alan:       Jacob Callie Moore
Sinclair:    Desmond Dutcher
Daytona:   Jill Melanie Wirth
Patti:       Amanda Ladd

This impromptu group had tremendous fun right through the curtain call.  Amazing to see the transformation on the face of the most troubled character as he stepped out of character to the sound of applause.

This is my last introduction to actors I am seeing for the first time.  Beginning with the next performance, it will be new assortments of actors I've seen play their roles before.

So, from here out it should be interesting to note how the same actor in the same role plays it differently when surrounded by a different group of actors.

This time I heard the meaning of certain words as if for the first time.  There is a sentence, "I failed that boy," which I just did not understand in what I now believe is the intended way until it was delivered by this actress in this performance.

I also think I saw the actors catching the sense of enjoyment from each other, and wonder if such a tone can be set by just one actor, the first to appear.  This time the play, with all its serious moments, seemed most like a comedy.  The single word "Then..." spoken as it was, got a tremendous laugh.  I don't think that word at that moment exists in the other performances.

One object absent from the other performances, carried the day by how it embodied a sentiment only expressed in the other performances.  I want to see if it persists the next time this actor returns.

There was a certain controlled exaggeration of character that seemed completely in character and spelled success.

The performance played to a full house which thoroughly enjoyed the show.