February 11, 2009
I fear I must be the harbringer of bad news. For you see, kind reader, The Philadelphia Story was one of the worse dramatic experience I have had the misfortune to attend.
The plot revolves around the upcoming second marriage of an American upper class lady, and is presumably a 'human nature' story about love, self discovery and second chances. Unfortunately, the playwright's intentions, and his merits were given little chance to shine, for what may have been a half-decent plot was completely drowned out by a sad stream of hammy acting, poor delivery and spurious emotional transitions.
There stood out three major flaws:
(1) a complete lack of timing, sure to foil even the wittiest of lines.
(2) Acting so wooden and stilted you could have built a Thai hut out of it.
(3) Constant half-pauses between sentences, when what clearly should have been happening was fast paced banter.
Though Anne-Marie Oveskovich, playing Tracy, the female lead, did well to pull off a rather complicated role, and passable American accents were maintained throughout, it was simply not enough.
The reviews I've written, thus far, have been mostly positive, if not downright glowing. But I simply cannot recommend The Philadelphia Story. Though there were some peals of laughter, I fear that they were a result of released tension and due more to sympathy then to comedy. Better luck next time.
The plot revolves around the upcoming second marriage of an American upper class lady, and is presumably a 'human nature' story about love, self discovery and second chances. Unfortunately, the playwright's intentions, and his merits were given little chance to shine, for what may have been a half-decent plot was completely drowned out by a sad stream of hammy acting, poor delivery and spurious emotional transitions.
There stood out three major flaws:
(1) a complete lack of timing, sure to foil even the wittiest of lines.
(2) Acting so wooden and stilted you could have built a Thai hut out of it.
(3) Constant half-pauses between sentences, when what clearly should have been happening was fast paced banter.
Though Anne-Marie Oveskovich, playing Tracy, the female lead, did well to pull off a rather complicated role, and passable American accents were maintained throughout, it was simply not enough.
The reviews I've written, thus far, have been mostly positive, if not downright glowing. But I simply cannot recommend The Philadelphia Story. Though there were some peals of laughter, I fear that they were a result of released tension and due more to sympathy then to comedy. Better luck next time.