Men in Uniform

[thoreau]

Last night the Michaels (Mr. and Mrs. bibliocub) and David and I went to The New Conservatory Theater Center to see "Men in Uniform." The show is their season finale. It was fun, as well, to see the theater and stage I'll be on in August and September.

The play was 7 short plays about different men in uniform: a chauffeur, a trash collector, a pest control guy, sportscasters, marines and religious zealots. It was a collection of plays written by students in the New Conservatory Theater Center's playwriting class. AS such, it was a tad uneven - - and my mind started thinking of ways 'this' might be done differently. Unfortunately the program and theater had not marketed the play as the work of writing students but rather "a world premiere potpourri" - so well, the expectation level of the audience (at least the one I watched the show with) was much higher than it should have been. Two of the shorts stood out as having been written by the more experienced seasoned writers - the others were pretty uneven. Several weeks in an actors were still clearly "reading the script in their head" and reciting lines - not having relaxed into it and "flowing" yet.

There was nudity throughout (apparently a staple of shows at NCTC) - but it wasn't nudity that really "fit" - a lot of it felt forced and gratuitous. Nudity in an intimate theater setting like that - can really give a play wow factor if it is handled well.

Take Terrance McNally's Love!Valour!Compassion!, nudity throughout but it means something - it contributes to the story - - letting characters talk about body image ("love me - love my love handles"), launch the story in a new direction (Bobby and Ramon making out in the kitchen), and wondering about growing old ("I never had an ass like that - even at his age") Now - McNally is an american master (in my estimation) and writes dialogue, in particular, better than any playwright I know of. I know that comparing last night's writing to McNally's is a pretty wide apples to oranges - steak to tofu sort of comparison and probably unfair_--- but my point is - lets use nudity to forward the story? - and not just put it in for naughtyness or cause a stir by having a nude scene. I know as an actor I appreciate nudity if I know it's part of the story - and I'm not just flashing the audience for no reason. (David is reading over my shoulder and finds comparing last night to Terrance McNally pretty unfair - but I'll leave it in)

Of course, this is why I love live theater so much. It has such variety. Last night's show could have benefited from tighter timing (some scene changes too several minutes) and faster pacing - some of the weaker writing would have improved in performance by the elimination of 'hesitation' by the actors. I'm really proud of the Mr. and Mrs. bibliocub for being Executive Producers of 'Men in Uniform' and helping NCTC bring new writers to the stage. I know for many in the audience it felt not quite ready for prime time - and poorly paced. But with a few more scripts under their belts - a few of these writers showed real promise. One particular bit was about a garbage man who encounters two young drag queens the morning after pride day - and it had some lovely moments of banter and reflection on "what it means to be a drag queen." (not that I have any idea) so I'd describe this show as a diamond in the rough - that reveals the shiny jewels in the script enough that it's worth seeing. Just set your expectations appropriately.

Ticket and performance information here