Jill's PLAF Diary for Thursday, September 14

Performance: Neighbors and Friends (Part of Vagabond Acting Troupe's Journeys to the Edge.) (Future performances.)

Sometimes, I wish I'd studied engineering. I don't think I'd be any good at it. But I'd like to be in charge of developing more comfortable theatre seats. After nearly two weeks, my back is killing me. But I'm having a helluva lot of fun.

Neighbors and Friends
Neighbors and Friends is a set of three one act plays by local Philadelphia writers: "The Wedding Consultant," by Eric Singel; "Colour Theory," by Stephan Tsapatoris; and "Neighbors," by Walt Vail. So even though the whole evening was only an hour and a half or so long, you're still getting three reviews tonight.

"The Wedding Consultant"
Eric Singel is currently in the process of expanding "The Wedding Consultant" into an evening-length one-man show. I went to a reading late last month and fell in love with all—well, almost all—of his characters. But it was hard to imagine how the show would be staged with Singel, all by his lonesome and sitting behind a table, reading a script. Turns out that Singel plays one believable Mainline wedding consultant—silk dress, impeccably applied makeup, coiffured wig, and all. I can't wait to see the full production at L2 Restaurant in February.
Festival rating: Very good to excellent.

"Colour Theory"
Well, I'd thought it would be a movement piece. And it wasn't. Then I thought it would be a pointed commentary on race relations. And it wasn't. My companion thought it would be a political play about red states versus blue states. It wasn't that, either. What "Colour Theory" was was a moderately pretentious, confusing, and seemingly pointless piece that couldn't be over quickly enough. Hannah Tsapatoris, playing "Red," at least had some depth to her performance, but on the whole, if you go see Neighbors and Friends, you can use the middle piece for naptime.
Festival rating: Fair.

"Neighbors"
"Neighbors" is the longest piece of the evening and, arguably, the strongest. In a story that would have made made Hitchcock proud, a young couple falling swiftly out of love is visited by a pair of voyeuristic neighbors (hence the name) who know way, way too much about them. The acting is superbly strong (of course, it almost has to be with Vagabond's Executive Artistic Director, Aileen McCulloch, as one of the neighbors), the script is simultaneously amusing and compelling, and I think the script has great potential for one act play festivals all over the country. I hope that Mr. Vail is shopping it around.
Festival rating: Very good to excellent.