THE AWAKE at 59E59

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 8/22/13 at 8:50pm

This starts tonight and I'm curious if anyone is seeing it. Sounds very intriguing plus I have a thing for Maulik Pancholy. Seems like a surprisingly short run so I guess I need to get on that.
Official Site

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 8/31/13 at 1:56pm

A lot of the performances have been sold out but I guess no one here has seen it or has an opinion. Well here goes...

This was a very...interesting show. It's definitely not for everyone because the story is told in a very abstract way that you really have to pay close attention. That's what I thought at first anyway. The first 20 mins or so are basically overlapping monologues told by the three characters about a dreamlike state. The rest of the play pretty much has a logical flow to it and I wished they had really cut the beginning and did it a little differently.

For only being 90 mins, this one definitely felt much longer. For everything that was going on I would have been fine with it being 75 mins. You start to really lose attention during parts. Several of the audience members (there are 2 sections across from each other with the action in the middle) weren't engaged and some were asleep. *Side note: That's a trend I don't like now, having to see the audience members because most of the time my attention will drift and see how others are reacting.*

All of the actors are good with what they're given but I didn't really get the emotion needed for the piece mainly due to the writing. I said this show isn't for everyone and while I didn't hate it, it certainly wasn't for me.