friday night i had the pleasure of seeing the brown paper box company's ALOHA SAY THE PRETTY GIRLS.
what: aloha say the pretty girls by naomi iizuka
where: the boho theatre space in rogers park
accompaniment: ally, emily, & jenna!
drinkability: they gave out free beers with the show! horray!
show length: 2 hours with a 10 minute intermission
out of four: two and a half/four
ALOHA SAY...is the perfect example of why i wanted to start this blog. it was my first exposure to that play/playwright, first exposure to a show by brown paper box co., first exposure to the boho theatre space, AND i got to see a friend perform! and i happened to attend with 3 awesome lady friends...so really, it was just an ideal situation.
brown paper's mission statement states that they "..create thought-provoking and accessible theatrical experiences without the glitz of overproduction." they certainly followed through with this aesthetic with minimal props, essentially no set, and all transitions done by a dim of the lights and sound effects curated by the tongues of the actors.
this show displays an ensemble of eight actors, two of which are brown paper company members and three of which play multiple characters. the first act takes place in nyc with the second in hawaii, as all these "twentysomethings"are on their journeys in life to generally figure it out. the show covers a wide range of twentysomething experiences- breakups, falling in love, moving, pregnancy, getting mugged in the subway (what, not all 20 something experience that?), mindless sex, drunken beach debauchery, and even a little bit of finding out what you as a human are all about.
natural standouts in this show for me were christopher hart (playing both will & derek) and angela mae davis (playing vivian). both had fantastic vocal quality that drew me in and left me excited to hear what they'd say next- as well as an incredible grasp on reality world acting. they were both charming and broke my heart at the same time.
comedy-wise stephanie rohr (wendy) and luke michael grimes (myrna & richard) kept me laughing and entertained on the lighter side of things. wendy is a character who goes after what she wants and isn't afraid to go for it. and as far as myrna: i mean, a fabulous guy playing a woman is always a hit- isn't it?
i was definitely charmed by ALOHA... and enjoyed watching the character's journeys. there were definite weak spots in the show that left my mind drift. i think if the show focused on act 1 and cut most of act II it would be much stronger (in my opinion: as i preferred the realism in act 1 to a lot of the sudden fantasy in act 2). but i did enjoy my time in the tiny boho theatre space and look forward to seeing more from brown paper!
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upcoming june shows:
friday june 21st, 8:30pm: second city: jay sukow's training class
*bonus! saturday june 22nd, 8pm: oracle theatre's waiting for lefty
friday june 29th, 8pm: prop thtr's slaughter city
join me, will you?
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