BWW Reviews: iACT In A Night of Short Scenes and 13 WAYS TO SCREW UP YOUR COLLEGE INTERVIEW

DISCLAIMER: I know the teacher/director. We went to school together.

I was invited to review Idaho Arts Charter's Theatre Department's Night of Short Scenes and 13 WAYS TO SCREW UP YOUR COLLEGE INTERVIEW. When we arrived (I went with the teacher's wife), we went straight in and noticed that they had a pretty full house. As we sat there we noticed that they had had to create another row of seats in the front (occasionally it might pay to be late). Needless to say, the performance was well attended.

From the way the set had been built and the fact that there were no real identifying markers on the set, you could tell that this was a night to get the students on stage and in front of an audience. This is in no way a bad thing, especially in high school. I actually think this kind of performance should be done more often.

They went through 4 short scenes, and the last of the short scenes was actually student written. (This is the main reason I think these kinds of night should happen more often around the valley) There was a 10 minute intermission, then they performed 13 WAYS TO SCREW UP YOUR COLLEGE INTERVIEW. There did not appear to be a unifying theme to the plays/scenes but there does not need to be on nights like this, although it can sometimes help the audience.

It did seem like the number of participants in the short scenes increased by one until the fourth one. There was a monologue about a mouse prince, a scene with a girl who thought she smelled really good and a boy who didn't want to be bothered, and a gender-bent love triangle. The fourth short scene was one a few of the students wrote, Harry Hipster and the Goblet of Heartbreak. I thought it was clever how they were mixing in a few different fandoms. Finally, the 13 WAYS TO SCREW UP YOUR COLLEGE INTERVIEW showed us those applicants who just didn't make the cut - and helps us to understand why.

Even with this simple night of scenes and a one act, I could see some raw talent on the stage. There were a few items that were overlooked (hair covering half of an actor's face, talking through a beard) but they can easily be fixed. I know that with the guidance of their teacher that if they listen to him, they will only get better. I look forward to seeing more productions put on by iACT (Idaho Arts Charter Theatre).

To post a comment, you must register and login.