Soho Rep's AN OCTOROON (at Theatre for a New Audience)

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 12:38pm

If anyone didn’t get a chance to see “An Octoroon” when it was playing at Soho Rep last year, I highly, highly recommend seeing the Soho Rep’s remount of it (at Theatre for a New Audience).

I was blown away. I had heard great things before, but it was still so much more and much different than I had anticipated. I actually felt a bit of myself resisting wanting to see this because of what I had imagined in my head what it was – I’m so grateful my girlfriend pushed for us to go, because it completely shattered both my expectations and my pre-conceived notions.

The acting is phenomenal, the message is powerful, the writing is spot on, and the stagecraft is simply wonderful.

There is so much there and the effect of the show when sitting in the audience is so visceral, it feels impossible to accurately describe.

This is one of those plays that I would recommend to anyone. I think, whether you end up liking the show or not, it’s certainly worth seeing.

Anyone else seen it in its remount?

[JBroadway]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 12:46pm

I saw it on Sunday and was equally blown away. Definitely not something to miss. Also, I didn't see it at SoHo rep, but I was this someone had, and he was saying that she is actually better in the larger space. They've tweaked some of the physical elements to make it play in the larger space. I won't spoil anything, but in particular there's a significant piece of stagecraft in the 2nd act that involves the whole audience, which has a stronger impact in the larger space (anyone who's seen it hopefully knows what I'm talking about)

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 1:35pm

Did your friend mention if anything (other than tweaking physical elements) was changed?

I own the script (haven’t yet read it), but I happened to notice that the song at the end of the show was not in the script (nor a mention of ending the show with a song). I’m wondering if this was strictly a directorial decision or if, since the script was printed back in its first run, it has since been added?

[JBroadway]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 2:15pm

I know that the man who wrote all of the original music for the show, Cesar Alvarexz was one of the last people in the creative team to be brought on board, but I don't know if that means they just did it for the TFANA production or late in the creative process at SoHo Rep. At the talkback on Sunday, the director, Sarah Benson, also mentioned that the script had already been written when she was approached for the SoHo rep production.

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 4:19pm

Interesting, thanks for the info. I really loved the music and thought the ending song was perfect. It’s hard to imagine it without that moment.

Random thought: I found it interesting that as I was leaving the theatre, I heard multiple people comment to the person they were with things to the extent of “I liked it! It was really funny!” While the show is certainly funny and has some really hilarious moments, its humor is certainly not the thing that resonated with me immediately upon leaving the theatre and certainly not the first thing I would comment on. In fact, I think so much of the humor in the show is completely intertwined in the message of the piece. Most of the times that I caught myself laughing, I then realized the situation I was laughing at, and found it hard to continue laughing. I think his use of humor as a device to drive home the play’s message is really, really interesting and really, really effective. Instead of the play telling me to think about something or preaching some sort of message, the play was, instead, able to produce a reaction in me that then made me, on my own, come to understand one of the messages of the play.

[followspot]

Posted: 3/19/15 at 1:18pm

I would have liked it more if I hadn't been in one of the 48 extremely partial view (yet full price) seats created by a poorly thought out staging/space configuration combo at the Polonsky. (Beware all "side view" mezzanine and balcony seating — that should more accurately be called "half-view".)

Updated On: 3/19/15 at 01:18 PM

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 3/19/15 at 3:57pm

Finally bought a ticket to see this next week before it closes- I've heard nothing but good things, so I'm very excited. and serious kudos to TFANA for making so many of their lower priced New Deal tickets available- it's great to see a major theatre like this so committed to being accessible for as many people as possible.