Addam's Play: Play Review

I attended the play on March 22nd. I have attended most of the plays here, at Waynesburg. Leading up to Professor Powers introducing the play and thanking the audience for their attendance, the audience seemed to be excited and engaged; talking about the various ways that the Addams family had enriched their lives. My friend and I had a seat in the middle in the center row, with an optimal viewing experience. The plays overall production concept such as the costumes, lighting and set added to the overall audience interaction, entertainment and understanding. The actors and the director did a good job of portraying the plays story, even to viewers who had no prior knowledge of the Addams family.
The actors were phenomenal in knowing how to properly portray the emotions of their character and
making the audience connect and relate to them as they were going through the various situations interwoven throughout the play by the couples. The costumes were very dark in nature, mostly black. As soon as the Blienke family was introduced, the family of Wednesday Addams love interest Lucas, Wednesdays attire changed from Black to wearing a yellow dress. She did this wardrobe change to signal the difference between the two family’s personalities and perspectives on life. The Blienke family was very optimistic and cheerful whereas, the Addams family was bleak, dark and ominous. The use of colors can be used to convey emotions and moods. Yellow is seen as a bright and happy color; like the sun. The color black is dark, with a tinge of mystery and death associated with it. Wednesday’s sudden interest in wearing yellow was initially to impress her boyfriends’ family and convince them that they were normal but as the play went on; the shift was to explain her change in emotion from a brooding angst ridden teen to a teen who was happy to be experiencing her first love.
The set was designed in a way so that no actor was turning their back to the audience during dialogue.
The chairs and table utilized for example were at an angle giving ample viewing for the audience on all sides. The set design was in triangles to make the stage look like it had definition and composition. It created tension between character and drew your attention to one part of the stage based on the furniture or where the actor’s attention was directed. When the actors had to share scenes on the same plane they did not upstage one another. This was demonstrated in the scene where Morticia and Alice are talking at the table and chairs. Eddie had explained that before deciding on a play for that semester, he first considers three things: the budget, the talent of his actors and the content of the shows material in relation to Waynesburg’s mission statement. Eddie also worked to enhance each actor’s individual talents. He stated that some of the actors needed additional voice lessons. The relationships between the characters in the play often mirrored real relationships between students on campus such of that of the moon and uncle Fester and Alice and
Lurch.
The play met the objectives of set design including: setting the tone and style, indicating time and space, and providing a central image or metaphor. The objectives of costume design are similar to the set design and must provide an overall visual aesthetic to the eye and ensure consistency with the whole production. Some of them consist of setting the tone and style, time and place, characterization, relationship among characters and meet performers needs. The production concept remained consistent and ties together the characters and the stories through its portrayal of the costumes, lighting and set design. It was clear to see the image and time period the play was conveying. The overall production was very well put together and the effort placed into the show, down to the minutest detail was visible and meticulously thought out.