Review: SEMINAR at The Loft, Chapel Off Chapel

Walking across the stage to get to your seat, you find yourself in an Upper West Side apartment where 4 eager writers have paid $5000 each to learn from eccentric Leonard, a posturing writer with stories the equivalent of a student who just got back from a gap year in Moldova or Rwanda.

SEMINAR, written by Theresa Rebeck, is a clever, wordy comedy about a melting pot of personalities. Set over a number of weeks, we see Leonard tear apart the stories and ambitions of Kate, Martin, Douglas, and Izzy.

Dion Mills as Leonard is at times perfectly arrogant and disdainful. His insults fly off the tongue without a thought with a flippant but imposing physicality to match. He's a much needed anchor to the fractured and biting dynamic of the 4 younger writers. At other times, Mills' Leonard lacked a certain and authoritative nature in his wisdom which would have explained much more about the continuation of the seminar. It's a tough switch for any actor to make, from fork-tongued critic to fairy godfather, and the writing doesn't help Mills in this.

Darcy Kent is deliciously disgusting as Douglas to begin with, and his heart then grows throughout the piece. With undoubtedly the wordiest passages of the cast, he is a joy to watch and listen to.

Ra Chapman as Izzy has a commanding stage presence and a wonderful maturity. Despite some very Australian moments in her American accent, she's the sex of the piece but doesn't once let that diminish the intellect or strength of Izzy.

The two absolute stand outs of the piece are Cazz Bainbridge's Kate and Mark Yeates' Martin. Both incredible actors with perfect grasp on the ebb and flow of comedy and drama. Bainbridge's Kate is relatable and brilliant, despite being gifted a basically free UWS apartment and being rife with self pity, whilst Yeates' cash troubled and cowardly Martin is somehow completely possessing of unattractive qualities but also the most talented of the group. You just can't hate him!

Also deserving of a mention if Hugh Stephens marvellous scenic design which was in itself a character of the piece, despite a few lighting and technical cue issues at this particular performance.

SEMINAR: A Comedy is playing at The Loft at Chapel off Chapel until November 26th.

Image credit: Theresa Harrison

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