BWW Reviews: Silence is Golden in the Creatively Potent PLAYTIME

Let's face it: being an adult can suck at times. There's a cacophony of responsibilities that command our attention like bills, spouses, children, in-laws, the battle with your neighbor over their dog pooping on your immaculate lawn, or the co-worker so annoying that thirty minutes on the treadmill after work at the gym you never go to can't eliminate your frustration with your work environment. Which also sucks.

As a seasoned veteran in this role of adulthood, I look at children and can't help but smile. Why? They don't have a clue what awaits them. When they're teenagers on the brink of adulthood, they think they want to become 'one of us' but they really don't. They just don't want us to tell them what to do anymore but want us to finance them.

Why do you think more and more young adults are moving back home or delaying a move out of the nest.? They know being a child (even an adult one) is a much better deal, regardless of age. Can't say I blame them. There are times when I would love to teleport myself back in time when life was so much simpler and the only thing I had to navigate was setting up grasshopper colonies in my backyard, playing dodge ball, and avoiding the normal childhood fights.

With a total running time of 45 minutes (no kidding!) "Playtime", produced by SiHK Brothers and written/directed by Jeffrey Colangelo is a powerful and entertaining look at what happens when people allow others to dictate the creative and beautiful innocence of their inner child by turning it over for a permanent position in a universal Groupthink Anonymous support group.

By employing silence and the actions of a mime, tight lighting and sound effects, and the superb acting of Colangelo as the primary, no-name character who could be any of us, "Playtime" is one of the best productions I have reviewed this year.

"Playtime" doesn't enable audience members by feeding words and phrases written by crafty wordsmiths and playwrights like myself. The production forces you to THINK about when you were your happiest, what did it look like, and who came in and took it from you. It's that simple, which made the production not only entertaining to watch as Colangelo navigated the mental capacity and curiosity of a child like a clinician, but also very emotional to process because you know he is playing YOU.

In the beginning, we find the unnamed tyke in a world of his convention, a box, surrounded by balloons and deathly afraid of the 'boogeyman', a prominent character in all of our childhood bedtime narratives. Each time he misbehaves and doesn't go to bed like a 'good little boy', there are three boogeymen to 'gently' encourage him to go back to sleep and direct him back to his box.

But like most kids, he doesn't want to back to sleep or in that box. He wants freedom. And the boogeymen are not having it. As he fights back, they try to make him submit. Although there is no dialogue, you can hear a chorus of dialogue that whispers to a shout: "Sssssssh! You must not play!" "Don't dream! Exploration is a waste of time!" "Creativity is stupid, it won't put food on the table!" "CONFORM! Play time is OVER!"

As he fights with the strength of a man, you can't help but to root for him as he attempts to regain his right to BE. Is he successful? Well, you'll have to attend the production to find out. And make sure to bring a comfortable, yet firm pillow. That's right. A pillow. Why? I won't say but if you can identify with the main character and his story, you will be able to release that burden and regain your child. Guaranteed.

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"Playtime" runs through Nov. 17 at 10 pm after Angels, Inc. at the Margo Jones Theatre, Fair Park, located at 1121 1st Avenue Dallas, Texas. Tickets are $10 and can be bought in advance at www.sihkbrothers.com/playtime or an hour before the show at the box office.

"Playtime" is written & directed by Jeff Colangelo and features the talents of Jeff Colangelo, Adam A. Anderson, Jonah Gutierrez, Kaysy Ostrom, and Mickey Giles. Costumes are by Marika Wynne with music by Samantha Rios. For more info please call 407-766-9368 or visit www.sihkbrothers.com/playtime.

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