Nov 12 2012
Finding Your Happy Place
into perspective if you recall and relive a time when you were completely wild with happy.
Although the entire play uses just four actors, each one has such a unique and powerful presence that any more would be overwhelming. I found myself continuously laughing out loud at the antics of each of the characters. Because all the actors were so strong, the minimalism of the set worked perfectly to allow them to do their thing. The prop coffins were hilariously reconfigured to signify location changes. They were turned into everything fromclosets to park benches. This also conveyed the sense that although death itself is a serious thing, there is a way to view it as an opportunity to remember the things that are really important.
The main character, Gil is in a rut. He has no job or boyfriend, and his mother, who raised him single-handedly, has just died. However, over the course of the play, by realizing that all his mother wanted for herself, and for him, was to be wild with happy, he reconnects with his aunt and his friend, and allows himself to appreciate life again.
I think that’s all we really want. Just one single moment when we can forget our insecurities, our frustrations, and our grief. When we can lose ourselves and feel utterly, and unashamedly, wild with happy.
I didn’t realized that there were only four characters. But those four characters made this play phenomenal. It only needed four characters. Their loud and expressive presence filled the whole venue with laughter and joy. The play left me with a good feeling. He finally appreciated life and this long journey helped him realize it. His happy place was Cinderella’s castle? What’s yours?
Hmm..interesting. If we’re all looking for that one brief moment of happiness, then I’d gladly suggest that Wild With Happy was that moment for us. (Hopefully there’ll be more, but you know.) The entire show was hilarious and surprisingly light for a topic such as death, but everything worked out perfectly.