Review: SOMEONE'S GOTTA DO IT Sweeps Madison

Opening to the punk sound of The Flying Lizards "Money, That's What I Want" Forward Theater begins its biennial monologue festival. With 12 monologues chosen out of the hundreds, written and submitted specifically for the festival, 8 of which were local (Wisconsin) playwrights. "Someone's Gotta Do It" speaks to the workforce, but not the glamour jobs and CEO's. No, this festival is about the little guy.

Beginning strong with "Just Waiting" Written by Kelly Dwyer, Eva Nimmer portrays a waitress dealing with rape culture as she is sexually harassed, treated like an object and summarily disposed of with only a nickel to show for it,.We are then guided through the hallways of America's unsung heroes .

"Enough Trouble in the World" written by Coleman, shows us that Helping people can be very difficult. Zhalarina Sanders, portrayal of a food stamp intake worker was riveting both politically and emotionally. When the monolog had finished I know I was teary eyed.

Sam White's, janitor in Eric Brehm's "Doorways and Beginnings" showed us that everyone matters, even if being forced into retirement. As the janitor works his broom around the stage, we learn about the kids he misses and the influence that he has tried to have over them.

One of two equity actors in the piece, Angela Iannone had a delivery so gripping, so real that I was at one point I felt like I was hired to be part of something awesome, and yet a few moments later was filled with fear and anguish at the prospect of being let go. This was during Jess Schuknecht's "Cave Men"

A crowd favorite (Maybe THE Crowd Favorite from people I spoke with) Was Eric Appleton's "Spotless", in which Alistair Sewell describes cleaning up after crime scenes, left me with a simple "WOW!" His body language and voice both seeming to crescendo through the piece until finally at its climax, he becomes almost silent leaving nothing but raw emotion on the stage.

While there were monologues that did not speak to me, the majority gave me pause to think, and many, to feel. Forward theater has been doing monologue festivals for a few years and I have enjoyed them all. This was a great time for a great theater. To find out more about their season, visit their website.

http://www.forwardtheater.com/

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