The director’s notes in the program I received upon entering the Mainstage Theatre to watch William Saroyan’s “The Time of Your Life” described two kinds of responses evoked from the play.
The first response is one filled with deeper meaning.
Each of the 23 characters who appear onstage has a unique personality to be analyzed and found full of meaning, even in an existentialist piece.
The second response is more critical, calling the play “whimsy” with an “inadequate plot-line.”
As much as it hurts me to say it, I think I fall more to the latter description.
It almost seems that after a year of gut-wrenching plays and tear-jerking performances, the department of theatre arts provided a humorous and simple two and a half-hour performance to make up for the overwhelming depression caused by the other three plays.
The show was humorous and well-acted, and the set was impressive, with a working bar that provided guests of Nick’s Pacific Street Saloon, Restaurant and Entertainment Palace with realistic looking alcohol.
The length of a show without plot development made it difficult to stay an active audience member throughout, even if the dialogue was witty – and even humorous – for a play set in the Great Depression.
As a piece of theater, it provided what theater should give an audience: an escape from reality.
It was an escape for this audience member, but only to the back of my mind to think “I have no idea what the point of this play is... shouldn’t I know by now? It’s the second act already!”
Though the plot of the play is almost impossible to find, each character was a unique performance, whether they were onstage the entirety of the play or simply for five minutes.
Danielle Robinette, who played Nick, the owner of the saloon where the play takes place, had an outstanding performance as a woman in a man’s role.
Her powerful attitude and dominant stage presence commanded attention and respect, whether from the audience or the characters onstage.
Jon Kevin Lazarus, who played the lovable but bumbling Dudley, was another favorite performance.
The antics caused by his zany love life, like dialing a wrong number when trying to call the love of his life, then setting up a date with the woman he accidentally dialed, provided the humor for most of the first act.
Overall, the show was funny and uplifting, and a showcase of the talent the department of theatre arts has to offer.
You may not have “The Time of Your Life,” but it’s still worth seeing.
Play not exactly the ‘Time of Your Life’
Published: Sunday, May 3, 2009
Updated: Sunday, May 3, 2009
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