Today is About a Play From the Other Day

This past Friday evening I attended a play with some fellow CreComms put on by Theatre Projects Manitoba at the Rachel Brown Theatre.  The play encompassed two separate monologues coming together to create "In The Chamber 2010: Last Men."

The play opened with a provocative scene of a man and woman in bed together.  It lasted a short while and left me questioning the point of it's existance.  I didn't dwell on that thought for too long, as the actual first play began titled "Last Man in Krakendorf."

It was performed by a well-known local actor, Gordon Tanner.  The set still has a bed, yet this time the scene took place in a motel room equipped with a video camera, laptop, and projector screen.  Doug Turner was the character who was an engineer for Agrotech Industries.  He began to film a video directed at Warren Buffet, the head honcho of the business.  Doug's main concern was a hog barn fire that took place and killed thousands of pigs in the process.  He was trying to relay to Warren of the conditions that the pigs had to live and how inhumane it is.  This continued on for a full 50 minutes with Gordon finally ending his rant and departing from the stage abrutly leaving me to wonder if that was it.  I found the plotline to be a bit dry and I lost interest when it became more of a lecture than a play.  Nonetheless, there were times when a joke was made and I, along with everyone else in the audience, found it laughable.  There were also a few times when the older generation of audience members laughed while I was confused as to how it was funny.

Plotline aside, I found Gordon Tanner to be an exquisite actor.  He put a lot of passion and feeling into his character, which projected well into the audience.  He gave the play his all and stayed in character the entire time, which I found impressive given he was acting alone in front of a roomful of people.

After a short intermission, the second play, "Last Man in Puntarenas" began.  This scene opened on what appeared to be a restaurant.  The main table had five balloons attached to the chairs, which would make someone wonder their significance.  Steven Ratzlaff was the star of this monologue, playing honourary guest at a dinner party.  As the play began it became evident that the balloons represented the guests at his table, which I thought was very creative.  Ratzlaff played a man celebrating his departure from a job at the Health Sciences Center.  He pulled out a speech that he had written for the occassion and began to read it.  It included many stories about prostitution, meeting his now ex-wife, and his child dying at an early age from a heart condition.  Slowly throughout his speech, he managed to successful insult his "guests" who left one at a time by having the waiter (Gordon Tanner from the first play) swoop in and remove the balloons.  By the time all of the balloons had departed, Ratzlaff had still not completed his speech.  The waiter sat down to talk with him, which eventually closed the play, again, rather abrutly.  The audience found this play to have funny moments as well.  However, again it must have been the older crowd, as I did now understand many jokes that were said.

Steven Ratzlaff performed the play very well.  He, as well, put his heart and soul into his character, which was clearly seen.  He stayed in character the entire time and was quite comfortible talking to balloons as people.  

The end of the second play concluded the evening, yet left me wondering how the introduction scene tied in with both plays.  

Now I would have to say that this play was not exactly my cup of tea.  I enjoy plays with more action and I did not feel that this one catered to my age group.  The play consisted of two great actors who put in a good effort, but other than that, I was left feeling unsettled at the end of the night.