Now that I have my critic name, pen, and hat it’s time to review the production of Ascuncion! I think it was the best piece we’ve seen this semester. Just from seeing the cover of the playbill I was thinking, “Woah, famous people! This is gonna be grrrrrreat!” Now seeing Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Bartha on the big screen and miniature screen (my TV) was one thing, but to see them on a stage really showed their amazing acting skills. And I must say Jesse Eisenberg is quite the playwright.
The play was absolutely hilarious. The combination of Bartha’s pothead, wacky acting, Eisenberg’s neuroticisms and the witty jokes resulted in several bursts of laughter. I’m also glad that I found someone else who shares my interest in palindromes. During the subway ride to the show I decided to go around and say everyone’s name backwards, it’s a big ism of mine. It came up with several interesting and entertaining results: Rimaa, Ylime, Assyla but my favorite is Natasha’s which is…Ah Satan! So you can guess my excitement when Edgar starts spitting out palindromes and one of them is Ahsatan Natasha!
Next on my review checklist: the set and music. Before Macaulay, I’ve only seen a handful of plays and honestly I never bothered paying attention to the set. It was only during the Bald Soprano where I began to see how the set is a huge part of telling the story. And I must say it really does help with the storytelling and the plot. The colors of the set, the furniture, the disorganization, etc. all reflect parts of the plot or help amplify certain elements. For instance, when Vinny found Edgar’s notebook and revealed his secret ripping out the pages and throwing the post-its all over the room, the disorganization reflected the anarchy of the scene.
As many of you know from watching my vlog, I am a firm believer of the magic of music. This play is proof of my core thesis: that music has magical abilities. You put some Ke$ha on and Ascuncion and Vinny started a crazy dance party! Another music or in this case sound effect, was when Edgar asked Ascuncion to turn the music off because he wanted to enjoy each others company and hear the sounds of nature, then you hear a motorcycle pass through, brilliant! From Vinny’s first smoke to him acting like an African tribe member, music played a huge part in this play.
Like many of my classmates I left the play laughing then ran to shake the actor’s hands, but being the inquisitive man I am I had to question what Eisenberg’s overall message was? And honestly, I didn’t find it very difficult to find. Eisenberg’s play much like the other pieces we’ve read/seen in this unit share the theme of racism and prejudice. As we found out in our show-and-tell blog, Queens is incredibly diverse, and we should be proud of that. However, unfortunately in this diversity we face racist and judgmental views. At least one character in Do the Right Thing, Yellowface, Ascuncion, Maria Full of Grace, and A View From the Bridge, face prejudice in one shape or form. Why? Ignorance, fear of the unfamiliar, human nature, etc.
Even though a woman is from the Philippines, it doesn’t mean she’s a sex slave. Even though a man is Muslim or from the Middle East, it doesn’t mean he’s a terrorist. Lets face it we all love to poke fun at the stereotypes of our ethnic groups. I know I always love to make jokes of Persian-American accents! However, there is a thin line between playful fun and hurtful racism.
Now that I can check off food for thought from my checklist, time to end on a happy note. I recommend this play for anyone and everyone, it was a great night of laughs (I was worried I might LMAO at one point!). Oh also two last tips: for any of those play noobs like me…after the first hour when the lights turns on, it’s not the end of the play, it’s an intermission! And bring some OJ with you before the play because after the play I craved OJ but lucky for me Penn Station had some. ^_^
Ebrahim’s Review Checklist:
– Make up a critic name (Check)
– Talk about the acting (Check)
– Talk about the script (Check)
– Talk about the set and music (Check)
– Give some food for thought (Check)
– Make some entertaining side notes (Check)
