We’re Already In by Nick Poulos

The Desk as performed by the Reeta Honkakowski Company opens with the performers dressed in tan lab coats welcoming us into the theater. The performers begin pushing each other around, each one trying to look inside a single desk that is on stage. The instructor of this “classroom” enters the stage, dressed in a black military coat with war medals. She blows her whistle, and the students begin to seat themselves and read their books. Every page turn and head movement is completely methodical and done in sync. It is at about this time that I realize, this isn’t a traditional performance. This is a dance piece.

The plot of the show revolves around the instructor ordering her students to do their daily tasks like clockwork. Reading, writing, even moving becomes mechanical as the students all fall in with the cult over time. Starting out, the students all have their own personalities. One tries to be teacher’s pet, another is constantly bullied, one is the black sheep, and one watches the rest for any faults. By the end of the show, these personalities die, and only the collective unit remains.

What interests me most about The Desk are the connections that the show makes. One connection is made to Hitler and the idea of Sieg Heil, but another is made to the military, as the leader almost salutes at some points. The word cult, as defined by the Oxford dictionary, is a system of religious veneration and devotion directed towards a particular figure or object. This description almost fits the military to a tee. The leader, in this case the general, dictates what the followers, in this case the soldiers, do. They are trained to be mechanical, moving like clockwork. Wake up, run, eat, shower, train, eat, sleep, repeat. While the military may not exactly be a religious group, they certainly are directed by one person, Uncle Sam, to one thing, the U.S. flag.

The show also makes the connection that school could be considered to be a cult. The students are all taught in the same way to think the same things all while leading them towards becoming part of the group known as society. School can even be a religious organization sometimes, allowing mostly Catholic schools to exist. The Desk, through it’s brilliant use of movement to tell its story, shows us that we only think we’re different from cult members. In reality, we’re already in.

The Death of Reality by Nick Poulos

Often times a performance will have one big message. Something for the entire audience to take away. When two people take away different things however, it creates a brilliant conversation. My Love Lies Frozen in the Ice by Dead Rabbits Theatre manages to do just that, create a performance that leaves the audience with different ideas of exactly what it all means.

The actors stand at the front of the stage with their instruments and begin welcoming the audience as they enter the theatre. Myself and my friends sat in the front row and got to interact with the actors for a bit, as they recognized us from when they plugged their show to us on the street. My Love follows the story of Matilda Andre, sister to Solomon Andre, the first person to attempt to fly to the north pole in a helium balloon. Matilda quickly falls in love with Solomon’s assistant Nills, and the two plan to wed. However, on the takeoff day Solomon informs Matilda that won’t be coming with them because it is too dangerous of an expedition. Matilda stays behind, heartbroken as she watches the balloon fly away. But while it disappears over the mountain for the rest of the audience, it never disappears for her.

Matilda falls into a hospital ward, being treated for insanity as she claims that she can still see Nills and Solomon. She tries to give them advice to stay alive and even dreams of rescuing them herself, until the doctors administer shock therapy on her. It is here that the two different paths diverge. I believe that the shock therapy takes away Matilda’s visions of her love, which ultimately kills her spirit, hope, and her. My friend Dillon who saw the show with me, believes that Matilda was in denial, and the shock therapy forced her to see the truth. This disagreement is not a bad thing in my opinion, in fact, it only makes the story richer. It leaves us continuing to talk about the performance after it has ended, going back and forth on drawing moments from the show to support our arguments.

My Love Lies Frozen in the Ice leaves me questioning the very ethics of reality itself. To me, Matilda created her own reality. One where she could save her brother and her fiancé from their almost guaranteed demise. That reality, even though it was a lie, is what kept her alive. The doctors perceived this reality as insanity because it clashed with their own reality, the reality that the explorers were deceased. They tried to destroy Matilda’s reality and bring her back to their own, but in the end, they only succeeded in destroying Matilda herself. So what is the right call here? Should we kill the only hope that people have in this world by trying to get them to be “normal”? I don’t know if there is universally correct decision, I think it’s up to you to see the performance and decide for yourself.

I Love the Thought of Coming Home to You by Nick Poulos

“Yes I love the thought of coming home to you. Even if I know we can’t make it.” These are the lyrics to Simply Red’s song, “Fairgrounds” playing on a loop throughout the preshow of Sh!t Theater’s production, Drinking Rum With Expats. The actors, while in full face makeup work this desk that they have labeled, “The Pub”. They pour drinks into cups and set them on the desk, but never openly state that the audience can partake. Now, most people don’t ask for something that another person has unless that person offers to share. I am, however, a wizard. The rules of most people don’t apply to me.

I approach the desk and am immediately greeted warmly by the actors as they offer me cheese and a drink. Both of which, I happily accept. Slowly, most people in the audience begin to realize that there is, in fact, free booze on the table for them and they join me in grabbing a drink. The show begins, as the actors rely heavily on the humor of excessive drinking throughout the show. No, maybe not humor, maybe escapism.

They begin describing people that they interviewed from Malta, people who are referred to as “Expats”. Muts, mongrels, immigrants that don’t quite belong to England, but also don’t quite belong to Malta. These people convene in The Pub, drinking and sharing their stories of how Oliver Reed passed away there after drinking eight pints of lager, fourteen shots of rum, and half a bottle of whisky. The Pub mourned his death by printing t-shirts and putting his face on a clock.

The plot of the show primarily follows the actors as they cover the death of Daphne Galizia, a journalist from Malta who managed to piss off both sides of the “wide” political spectrum by digging deep into issues such as immigration. Primarily, why legal immigration is near impossible to obtain. Unfortunately, Daphne was never able to publish that story, as she was killed by a car bomb for informing the public of the truth.

Sh!t Theatre constantly breaks from the truth, distracting the audience by drinking, crowd surfing, playing loud music, and dancing. This is exactly the same vices that distract most people from seeing the truth. I am, however, a wizard. No, I don’t fully believe that statement, but believing that I am, in some way, special, has saved my life. It is here that I see that my way of coping with the ugliness of the world, isn’t by drinking. It’s by playing by my own rules, by making up fantastical stories and laughing at both the chaos within myself, and the chaos within our world. But coping mechanisms only last for so long until you are forced to see the truth. In reality, I understand that I am, in fact, human, and that I should try to create change in the evils that I constantly see within our society.

It’s just like Jekyll and Hyde, too much of the truth becomes depressing, demoralizing, and sometimes makes me suicidal. Too much of the wizard becomes blinding, ignorant, and a crutch that will only leave me worse off then before. It certainly is something that could kill me if I go too far, just like alcohol, however I do it anyway for the humor. No, maybe not humor, maybe escapism. It’s like Simply Red says, “Yes I love the thought of coming home to you. Even if I know we can’t make it.” While I’m still not sure how to balance the two sides of my personality coin, thanks to Drinking Rum With Expats, I’m excited to try.

Who Cares Makes the Audience Care By Nick Poulos

A good performance is something that makes people feel, something that makes them care, and something that leaves them thinking after the show is over. Who Cares opens with music such as “Back in Black” by AC/DC and “Ride” by Twenty One Pilots as the actors begin playing their roles of teens, chewing gum and loudly listening to music. Shortly, they began to tell their stories. The stories of children who, for multiple reasons, were left with only one parent. Some left with none.

The actors in Who Cares switch characters frequently, going from the teens that we are familiar with, to the parents of the children themselves, to even the providers of government aid for children who provide for their parents. These transitions are seamless, happening over the music of popular teen bands like Twenty One Pilots. The cast also keeps their many different wardrobe changes in lockers, helping to create the atmosphere and feel of a middle school/junior high. Perhaps the thing that Who Cares does best however, is make the audience care about these stories. LUNG and The Lowry conducted interviews over a two year period with young carers living in Salford, and you can see the authenticity to the interviews that they bring to the stage.

I personally am not a young carer, and I don’t know anyone who is, however the connections to my life are still there. My father was diagnosed with COPD about two years ago, it’s a lung disease that makes it hard to breathe when he has to lift things. The problem is, he was denied disability, and without a college degree or any form of technology knowledge, the only work that he can do involves manual labor. Lifting. Being denied disability is something that the show discusses as the actors turn into the parents, as one of them was denied disability money as well.

The actors flawlessly performed the roles of the teens, often struggling with having to provide for their parents, but having no one to provide for them. I was frequently fighting back tears while silently screaming to myself, “Not today damn it!” They want to do right by their parents, but they also want to just be kids and live their own lives. Often times, my dad will ask me to help him scan copies of his paychecks to send to his lawyer. My brother always promises to do this, but he never does. You know how 18 year old boys with girlfriends are. And since both my parents are technologically challenges, the responsibility falls on me. While I have complained about the unfairness of this in the past, Who Cares reminds me that I don’t know how much time I have left with my dad. None of my family does. And while I may not like always having to carry the burden, I will do it gladly from now on. Because after all, there’s no one else that I would like to spend time with more than my dad.

“Jekyll and Hyde”, or “Order Versus Chaos” by Nick Poulos

“Burn it down”. A phrase that has been the subject of many different song titles over the years. Just reading the phrase elicits images of chaos, destruction, and world ending flames. But after the burning comes renewal, time for new plants, trees and houses to be built. And perhaps even a new person could be built as well. Jekyll and Hyde as performed at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival by A Slightly Isolated Dog, has produced an extremely engaging and entertaining show, playing very upbeat music in the preshow and complimenting the audience on their beauty as they step inside and settle in. They do these compliments completely in character, all while dressed in a mixture of burlesque and drag.

Putting a much more light hearted and comedic spin on the classic tale, Jekyll and Hyde incorporates things like modern music and gender bending makeup to draw connections from the story to the modern day difficulties of exploring our own sexuality. The show relies quite heavily on audience participation, but with the cast’s upbeat attitude and crude humor, the entire audience was more than willing to help tell the story. But perhaps what Jekyll and Hyde does best is redefine the meaning of the phrase, “Burn it down”.

Struggling with the temptation to go out at night, get drunk and wreak havoc, but without ruining his scholarly reputation, Doctor Jekyll creates a potion that splits his personalities into two different people, the noble Doctor Jekyll, and the murderous villain Hyde. After consuming the potion however, something doesn’t go quite right, as Doctor Jekyll begins unwillingly turning into his alter ego Hyde. Ultimately, the two personalities come to a head, causing the death of both of them. I believe the message to be taken away from this show is, as A Slightly Isolated Dog states in the performance, “We can’t separate ourselves from the darkness, it must live within us”.

We all have a chaotic side, the side that wants to rage against the machine, not go quietly into that dark night, say, “It’s not a phase mom,” and burn the world to the ground. Jekyll does this in the same way that many of us do, filling his nights with meaningless sex and excessive amounts of booze. Jekyll and Hyde shows the audience that this side is necessary for life. Without one side of order or chaos, we die. With too much of either order or chaos, we die. The two sides must live within us, and they must always be balanced, there can never be one without the other. For without Jekyll, there is no scientist who creates Hyde. And without Hyde, there is no Jekyll trying to escape the boredom and routine of his mundane life. Jekyll and Hyde is a brilliant production that does one of the most important jobs of performance, it reminds the audience that we are humans, with faults, and that’s okay. While there’s nothing wrong with being prim and proper, sometimes the only way to keep our sanity is to

Burn

It

Down.