Theatre Play Review Essay

Intro to Theatre Play Critique I went to the University Of North Carolina School of the Arts February 25, 2012 to see a production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. It was not the most stunning of performances as the director John Langs definitely deserves some blame. When I first sat down in my seat, I immediately looked around me and saw several people also in attendance for the play. Quite frankly, I was unsure of what to expect as the only other play I had gone to was a Broadway production in New York. The actors and actresses came down the aisle during the very beginning of the production and talked to members of the audience including me. I thought it was a very good strategic move in order to get the audience immediately involved and
into the play. After I was drawn into the production, the lights dimmed and I thought I was about to see a very entertaining play based on a novel written by Charles Dickens. First and foremost, the staging in the play was awful.
All the actors were standing pretty much in a straight line on the stage. As well, they did not utilize the space on the stage very well. The time period reflected the time period in other productions of the play. It was unusual that the actors asked the audience to help them solve the murder. However, other productions of the play across the country also seek the audience’s input in solving the murder of Edwin Drood. The musical, by Rupert Holmes, had a very interesting plot. In the play, the handsome Edwin Drood has fallen in love with Rosa Bud. In the beginning of the play, Edwin Drood is murdered which is to the dismay of many people. There were many suspects in the murder who include the following characters: John Jasper, Rosa Bud, Neville Landless, Princess Puffer, The Reverend Mr. Crisparkle, Bazzard, and Durdles. After intermission, in the second act of the play the actors and actresses came up and tallied votes for who killed Edwin Drood. I had voted for the Reverend Mr. Crisparkle because he believed Jasper to be the incarnation of Satan and thus killed Drood. However, the audience was not in agreement with me as the majority believed that Durdles was the killer. Durdles had believed that Drood was a ghost and thus smashed his head. When Durdles talked to the audience in efforts of pleading for his innocence, his defense was that it would be silly and foolish for him to do such a
thing. After briefly summarizing the production, one can easily see how this play can have a variety of different endings and killers. It just happened to be that this production had Durdles pinned down as the murderer. As well, there were many prevalent themes in the play. Dark themes of death, violence, and obsession are themes that exist in the play. I personally was also very impressed with the costumes that the actors and actresses were wearing. One could easily tell that the costume designers/wardrobe heads, Kristen L. Moffitt and Martha Sheppard, did a wonderful job in creating costumes for the characters that reflected their true personalities. It appeared that the actors knew their lines and the director chose a wonderful play for the university to produce. However, the poor staging really overlooks any positives the play had. Another thing I did not like was how Helena Landless, a Ceylonese twin, always had music that made the audience laugh after Helena talked. While the music was certainly funny, I think it drew back from the overall production and often overshadowed the great production. The lighting was also very good as there were no technical difficulties. The design elements were certainly supportive of the overall production. Nothing stood out in a bad way in terms of lighting and costumes. It is important for a director to have a great balance of lighting and likeable costumes or else the production is overshadowed by silly elements of the production. Overall, I do not recommend this play for anyone to see. A harsh critic would call it a waste of 13 dollars. However, I will call it a valuable learning experience as I was able to personally notice flaws with the production. I believe that the director chose a great play in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. It had a very unique element of great interaction between the audience and actors which is a great idea especially for plays produced at the local, regional, and community levels. The execution of the play was rather poor as the actors were always on the very front of the stage. This play had a lot of potential; however, it failed to live up to it.