"George is Dead" Review

Review of ATC’s Production of “George is Dead”

by Marc Hansen

“George is Dead,” the new stage comedy produced by the Arizona Theatre Company and currently playing at the Temple of Music and Art, sounded great on paper, but is, ultimately, an utter disappointment. It’s not that “George is Dead” was a great idea and just didn’t work out on stage, it’s that writer and director Elaine May (who also happens to be a comic legend and an Academy Award nominee) seemed to have no idea where she wanted to go with the idea in the first place. There are things it did quite well, but its faults bring it down to a seemingly endless, directionless, bore of a show.

I’m not even sure how to set up the plot, because there’s not much of one to start with, but it contains two couples who are the exact opposites of each other. Emmy winner Marlo Thomas stars as Doreen, the dim, socialite wife of the much older, richer, but very happy George (Don Murray). Michael and Carla, on the other hand, live in a crummy New York apartment because Michael, (nicely played by Reese Madigan) an angry liberal History teacher, can’t afford anything better (hey, he is a teacher) and Carla (Julia Brothers) is too busy being neurotic and trying to please everyone in her life. Halfway through the play, George suddenly dies while skiing, and Doreen depends on Carla to take care of her for the rest of the play.

May does write the characters well, I’ll give her that. They’re all cardboard cutout stereotypes, but at least they’re consistent, making it feel less like May wrote them as stereotypes and more like they’re real people, who just happen to fit those stereotypes. I mean, it worked magnificently in The Birdcage (which May also penned) and sometimes it can be a good technique, because it does make us feel like we personally know the characters.

The play’s also funny; not laugh out of your chair, slap your knee funny, but a ‘that was pretty clever’ chuckle kind of funny. Funny, nonetheless, right? I guess, I just felt like the humor was almost too tame. I admired it for its wit, but it wasn’t daring enough to truly make me laugh. I hate to say it, but I think the play’s sense of humor perfectly illustrates the vast differences in each generation, that is the play’s theme. While the older, more conservative character ‘George’ would probably enjoy this play, his 22-year-old cabbie and Michael’s students (who are constantly texting) are used to more severe, inappropriate, and ‘racy’ jokes that would go against a ‘George’s’ traditional values. Being a youngster myself, I’m not the target audience for this play, but if ‘George’ is just a metaphor for that older generation and, as the play’s title suggests that ‘George is Dead,’ then this play’s audience is dead, too. Instead of getting into how every passing generation gets more rebellious in its music, clothes, movies, and culture, I suggest May stop looking down on her cabbie and students and pick up the new memo.

But honestly, I’m not even entirely sure if that was the play’s theme. I hope it was, because it’s a good theme and that would be one of the few positives about the play, but the play seemed to slyly suggest that it might be, yet wouldn’t explore into this interesting concept enough to confirm that it was. Instead, the play preferred to spend more time having its characters engage in drawn out nonsense. May took a good premise and then did nothing with it. There wasn’t even tension to fuel the play, which was the play’s biggest downfall. Parts of some of the conversations are interesting, but for most of the time I was just wondering where they were going and what the point to them was. It’s as if May was a first time writer and was so enamored with hearing actors read her lines that she decided to insert her daily, uncut conversations instead of an actual story. Half the play was spent on the last stage where Doreen spends the night with Carla, and besides a fight Carla and Michael have near the end, not much else happens. It’s mostly just an opportunity for Marlo Thomas (of That Girl fame) to shine and show off her natural wit and comedic timing. She was, by far, the highlight of the entire show, but because I was spending most of the time pondering what May was trying to get at, it all felt meaningless. I don’t think May even knew what she wanted.

Sometimes it can be good to make your viewer confused, but the questions the viewer has have to be answered by the end, or at least left up to the viewer to decipher their meaning. With ‘George is Dead,’ I instead felt that I was confused throughout and after the play, but that I wasn’t supposed to be. The play did have nice lighting, convincing sound effects, and great sets-the apartment set looked like a real apartment-but its serious script flaws prevent it from becoming anything more than a disappointment. And ‘George is Dead’ is the worst kind of disappointment, because it had the real capacity to be great.

Overall Grade: C

'The Kite Runner' Play Review

Wow. So, it's been a long time since I've been on here. But I'm doing this thing for the ATC where I review their plays, so I'm posting my review on here. Here it is:

"Review of ATC’s Production of “The Kite Runner”
by Marc Hansen

The first show of the Arizona Theatre Company’s 09-10 season is an adaptation of the acclaimed best-selling novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I haven’t read the book yet, so unfortunately I won’t be able to compare it to it’s original source (as I’m sure fans of the book are wondering if this production does it justice). I have, however, talked to some who have read the novel and they say the play certainly contains more of the emotional impact from the book, as opposed to the movie which instead put in lots of cool shots of kites flying.

But if you are new to the material, like me, I’d highly recommend it. As for fans of the novel-I’d see it just to see it, even if it isn’t as good as the novel. The material is dark and very emotional, so it’s not for everyone, but if you’re willing to give it a chance, it will engage, entertain, and most importantly, make you feel and care for the characters. I assume most of what’s best in the play stems from the novel, because really the best thing about the production is simply the story. Yes, the sets are beautifully constructed, the music adds to the atmosphere, there are over four hundred costumes and the acting is, for the most part, very good, (as you can always expect from the ATC) but what makes this play really great is the story. It’s truly excellent, and that’s rare these days.

The play starts out in Kabul, Afghanistan in the 1970s. It follows a young boy Amir, an aspiring writer who loves movies, but whose father wants him to play sports. Instead, Amir feels his father’s attention is mostly on Amir’s best friend/servant Hassan, who Amir would never actually admit he likes, because he is Amir’s servant. Hassan, on the other hand, is almost too loyal. He’s such an angel, but you feel so bad for him, because he would literally do anything for Amir, but Amir wouldn’t do so for him. One of these things include when a group of teenage bullies threaten to rape Hassan if he doesn't give them a ske Amir won, but Hassan endures it because he's so faithful to Amir. Amir witnesses this (though he doesn’t think Hassan notices him) and yet doesn’t do anything about it. The guilt he feels haunts him forever.

Of course, the play wouldn’t work if it wasn’t adapted well, which it is (by Matthew Spangler), but it does sometimes stumble over trying to take novel conventions and apply them to the stage. For one, the narration of adult Amir (Barzin Akhavan) during the first act, which chronicles Amir’s childhood, which I guess is necessary because without it you would lose his point of view and thoughts, but at the same time it just seems kind of unusual with adult Amir always standing in the background, like the ghost of Christmas past, while the rest of the story continues. Obviously, Spangler understood that why the book worked and the movie (which didn’t include this) didn’t was because you had Amir’s thought process, but it’s hard to include that in a play (which is why it was probably written as a novel in the first place). Thankfully Akhavan’s performance makes it work.

There’s also a fight scene in the second act between Amir and the main bully (pretty much an Afghan version of Kiefer Sutherland in Stand by Me). Unfortunately, they actually “acted” out the fight, even though everyone could tell neither of them were hitting each other (but I guess we’re supposed to believe they are because they would each fall back and make groans). This was just disappointing. This is a play! You shouldn’t have a fight scene. The strengths in this play are emotions, not action. If they didn’t want to cut it out, they could have at least handled it better, like they handled the “rape scene” in the beginning, which was beautifully done (the actors run off stage and Akhavan describes the action).

That’s one bad example of the translation from text to stage, but there were scenes that don’t usually fit into the play format, that I thought still worked really well. Like the aforementioned “rape scene” and the “kite running” scene where young Amir and Hassan win the race, which seems realistic even though they obviously weren’t holding real kites, but my mind filled in the blanks because of the execution and the fact that I was into the story. The music composed by a brilliant Tabla player Salar Nader really helped here.

Another aspect which really surprised me was the amount of humor in the play. Whenever you hear people talk about this story, they always mention how deep and powerful the story is, but you never hear about how funny it is, as Thomas Fiscella (who perfectly plays the father) mentioned to me. He, in particular, gets some of the funniest moments, like when he and Amir first arrive in 80's America, after enduring the hardships of war, and the ensemble breaks out into disco, or the old Vietnamese grocery store owner who tries to kick Fiscella’s character out of her store.

Overall, despite its few flaws, I really enjoyed ATC’s production of “The Kite Runner.” At its heart, and what makes it so good, is a really excellent story, but this production does a great job in retelling it, especially in the first act, which is just perfection in every way (the second act drags a little). It also contains a magnificent twist, which I didn’t see coming at all but makes so much sense once it happens, and a really excellent performance by the lead, Barzin Akhavan. He might be the biggest highlight of the play. He really tugs at your heartstrings and makes you feel his pain. This guy is going places (too bad young Amir sounds like Andy Kaufman). All in all, while I wouldn’t see the play again, I’m really glad I did see it and would definitely recommend it. And best of all, the play made me want to go out and read the book.

Overall Grade: B+

The Kite Runner is playing at the Temple of Music and Art presently until October 3rd.

TV Commercials and a little Short

So, first of all, I changed my little setting thing, which looks really bland now, but it's the only way to fit the whole youtube videos in my posts.

So secondly, I thought I'd ad a few videos before I leave tomorrow. For those of you who haven't seen them (or can't wait to see them again!...... anybody?)here's my Gemeni Commercial:



And here's my Vit-A-Bear Commercial:



And premiering for the first time every here's a little montage I made:



I'll be gone for a month (......anybody?) but back with a documentation of my trip in Europe! (a.k.a. a documentation on how spending 24 hours a day for 4 weeks can drive a family to kill each other-it's gonna be good.) Bye!

Twizzlers

Okay, so last time I promised that I would be back with a humorous video that my brother and I made. And I have kept that promise. We actually made it over a week ago and it's been on youtube for a couple days now too, but I just decided to post it on this blog today. So here it is:



Enjoy! And thanks to all of my positive comment.....okay, thanks Alison for the only comment on my last one (but seriously thank you :D).

Barack Obama = Mr. Bindschadler? (and more!)

So, I just read Mr. B.'s latest entry (http://www.bbind.blogspot.com) about one of his students who was reminded of Mr. B, after watching President Obama on Jay Leno. What a smart guy. But after watching the interview (http://www.nbc.com/The_Tonight_Show_with_Jay_Leno/video/clips/president-obama-full-interview-319/1067541) there was something about him that reminded me of Mr. B. There was a charisma and a playfulness that was exactly like Mr. B's. He sounded just like Mr. B, when he was just joking around and being normal. Not at all when he was being "political"-God, I hate how fake politicians have to be, but the qualities I hate about politicians are traits that they can't get elected without, so I also just hate Americans. But am I a cynic for thinking that all politicians lie and are corrupt? All right, I don't really think that. Honestly, as much as I hate to say it, I do, deep inside of me, have some faith in people. But back to you, Mr. B. The truth is I don't even know President Obama, so I don't really know. And I don't know why you took it as a compliment. The only reason he reminded me of you was because you both make fun of the disabled (not really, though I felt really bad after talking to you and then coming home to all the news coverage on that). It was a compliment, and the truth is you're probably cooler than anyone arrogant enough to run for the presidency.

So, recently my sister and I have been fighting-ninja style. Even though we're joking, she's still a lot stronger than I am.

Now, I know that no one's really gonna care that I'm telling you guys this (if anyone's even reading this) but I'm excited about it so I'm just gonna tell it anyways. Last summer, I wrote a screenplay (wow, I feel pretentious writing that) and over Rodeo Break when my mom, sister and I went to L.A. for the weekend, one of the things we did was meet with some screenwriters my mom knows. We had dinner and a long conversation about writing and movies, in general, and I gave them a copy of my screenplay (after staying about till 2 in the morning the night before and deciding to edit it). Well, they just emailed back after having read it. I'm not gonna get into the whole thing but they liked it! Of course, it wasn't perfect, and they made a lot of very helpful suggestions and things I can work on (and I agreed with everything they said), but they liked it and think that I can only get better. And here's a direct quote from the email "After our dinner, I didn’t know what to expect, as there are hundreds, if not thousands of “writers.” The difference is that most of them can’t get anything cohesive, entertaining, memorable, insightful, etc… on the page. I think you’ve done that here. Is it perfect? No. Is it entertaining and a page turner? Yes. And the subject matter is dark. What is on the page can’t really be taught. It’s something that evolves with you the individual." So, I'm feeling pretty proud and excuse me for gloating, but I can't help it. I love getting feedback and when I do a good job. I always love it when Mr. B. really likes something that I've written, when I do really, really well on a math test (105%, baby!), and I felt so good when the whole class responded so well to my latest presentation and liked it as much as they did. And I feel really proud about this too. I think I generally keep a pretty humble attitude about it and usually act like it doesn't affect me, which is why I don't feel as bad writing all of this, but you know, I work hard and probably no one is reading this, so I'm just letting it all out for once.

This is also partly in response to part of Mr. B.'s latest entry in which he said ". . . it struck me, as it often does, how much we all carry around inside ourselves that we rarely let out. Sometimes people amaze me." And man, I don't know, but I just feel like that is so true. I know, from myself, that there's so much going on in my head, so many thoughts and emotions, that I never express. No one knows these things at all. Just the other day, I broke down and started crying, telling my mom that I felt like she wasn't proud of me. I think there's a whole other side of everyone that we don't see. And I wish we could because it is amazing, there's nothing more human in the world and I do sympathize.

This kind of goes along with all of that. The other night, while driving in the car, my mom said she thinks she'll probably die in 15 years. This horrified me. 15 years. I'd only be 30 or so, in 15 years. Only 15 more years I have with her. If that. She doesn't even know after the cancer. The first step is to make it to 5, then 10, and so on and so on. But she thinks she and our dog will die about the same time, in 15 years. You know, even though I know everyone will die, it hurts so much to actually think about it. One day my mom will never come back. Just be gone. The most important thing in the world to me will die and never come back. And my dog-all her joy and happiness. This wonder. One day she'll die and I'll have nothing left but the memories and I can never be with either of them again. Sometimes I just really hate life. Why does it have to be this way? When I think about myself, I don't mind knowing I'll die. In fact, I don't want to live to be too old. It gets to a point where there's just no joy or anything to live for and I want to die enjoying everything. But I also don't want it to end. I could never kill myself, even if I wanted to, because I know I might be missing out on something. But sometimes there's just so much pain. It's weird to think about it. Even with people who I don't like as much. My uncle. How weird to think about? One day I'll go to my uncle's funeral. Think about it. Everyone you know will die. You'll go to their funerals and they'll never come back. Your teacher. Your cleaning lady. Your friend. All these wonderful people die. And they just don't die like they do in the movies. They actually die. Not from old age. Not in their sleep. That never happens. It's just a way to hide the pain. Those lies are just to protect us from the fact that as you get older, you just get sicker and have diseases. I can't do this anymore. I'm gonna stop here. But it's things like these that represent all the things we carry around with us and never let out. I'm letting out. Life is tough and there are parts of it that just really suck. Sometimes you've just gotta go-this really sucks and in the end, it all just sucks-but there's so much to be grateful for, to enjoy everything you do have, and to appreciate what you do have. Try and have some fun with it. Just laugh. I know I sound like some cliche grandpa telling life lessons, but you know it's true. Sometimes things are cliches because they're true. Sometimes the lessons you learn as a kid-to live life to the fullest, or that if you never try, you never know, or to try and make great memories and do exciting things that you haven't done before-well those lessons are the first ones you learn for a reason. They're true and the most important ones.

Alright, I'm signing off. And to close off Mr. B. style-I hope your presidents are as charming as your teachers, I hope your fights are full of cool ninja moves, I hope you feel proud of yourself, I hope you let it all out, and I hope you live life well. And don't worry-next time things won't be so heavy (I'll be sharing a new, humorous video with you that my brother and I made over the weekend). And because I have to end my blog my own way-here's a wonderful clip of the late Elliott Smith playing two hauntingly beautiful songs on the piano:

YAY!!!

A video I filmed about a month ago finally uploaded onto youtube! So check it out:



And now you also know what I look like in the morning.

Three Things I Currently Love

1. Go to this band's website http://www.myspace.com/loneydear and listen to the song "Ignorant Boy." It's so good. I saw them live last Saturday when they were opening for Andrew Bird (who, of course, was excellent) but they totally stole the show. This song is basically just "na na na na na na na na na na na na" over and over again but it was awesome. He had the whole audience sing it together-beautiful. They're even better live. Also check out their songs "Violent" and "I am John."

Speaking of the concert, I ran into everybody that day-I saw my kindergarden teacher at Robert's that morning, didn't even recognize her, then at the concert I also ran into this freshman from the high school who took a film class with me, like 5 years ago, (coincidentally she said she saw me at Robert's that morning too.... but seriously it was good to see her) and David Baker! I haven't seen the guy in forever (though we did talk over the phone right before our birthdays-he's 21 now). He's doing well though, going to school and illustrating comics, plus he's a huge Andrew Bird fan (I found out that night) and he still has his Hellboy hat! I love running into people. Old memories.....

Anyways on to number

2. This video:



It's awesome. A tribute to PTA's (Paul Thomas Anderson) films. Besides the fact that every film PTA has made has been a masterpiece, but the guy who edited this was genius. Seriously, knowing how hard it is to edit anything together, none the less clips (especially when it's from mostly 2-3 hour films), he does it perfectly. Better than most movies are edited. Why isn't this guy in the industry? The pace, rhythm, music (which are all important songs from the actual movies), the way that it shows different dialogue over different clips, and how all the clips work perfectly together, one after the other. This would make PTA proud.

3. The movie "The Fall", particularly this scene:



Great movie. Took over 4 years to make and filmed in over 20 countries with no special effects at all, it's a wonderfully directed, beautifully filmed (look at that cinematography-how did they pull that off!) movie, not to mention a great story (and Lee Pace, from TV's awesome, now cancelled-grrr-"Pushing Daisies" stars). It's about a guy whose paralyzed and manipulates a girl into giving him morphine to kill himself, by telling her an epic story in pieces.

Lastly, I wanted to post a video of my own that I made but it's taking forever to upload onto YouTube, so next time.