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An Oak Tree Reviews
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Review by: Tom, Feb 12, 2007 |
Sometimes you take a chance on a show, simply to reward it for trying something new. "An Oak Tree" was such a show. One actor in the show plays a hypnotist who has accidentally killed a little girl with his car. The other actor in the show plays the father of the little girl, who has come to the pub in England where the hypnotist is performing, to confront the man who took his daughter from him.
The gimmick is this: the second actor ... read more changes every night. Each night, someone new plays the role of the father. Someone who has never seen the play, never read the play, someone who knows nothing more than what I've just told you in the first paragraph. (Although the actors don't touch upon what show closings led me to the Barrow Theater.) He (or she, as several women have played the role of the father) appear at the theater near show time and are invited onto the stage just as the show is to begin. The night I went it was Stephen Lang (who was very good last year in John Patrick Shanley's "Defiance"). Recent shows have featured David Hyde Pierce, Mike Myers, Frances McDormand, Peter Dinklage and Joan Allen, among others.
During the show, the actor wears earbuds, through which he is regularly given direction by Tim Crouch, the writer, director and consistent co-star of this experimental work of theatre. Often he is told what to say. Other times he reads from clipboards with a few pages of dialogue.
Many times during the evening, the thought came to my head that there is a reason plays are rehearsed. But as "An Oak Tree" continued (it's just over an hour in length), I started to see it as brilliant, if contrived and chilly. I thought the play was using acting and the conceit of theater to present ideas about boundaries and preconceptions and the line between artifice and reality. On an intellectual level, I appreciated it. But on another level, I felt just the tiniest bit toyed with.
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A brilliant piece of conceptual theater Review by: Tim 13, Jan 5, 2007 |
| I saw this play at Edinburgh Fringe in 2005 where it was sold out every night. I imagine the concept has not changed. For lovers of the theater and acting this is a brilliant concept. On actor is fed lines - true - but in that vulnerable state we continually shift our attention from what is ‘real’ and what is ‘performed’. The final result is, I think, mesmerizing. Each night depends on what person ends up in the other part. Are they trying ... read more to act? Are they really ‘actors’ at all? Is there a woman playing a male part? Where does suspension of disbelief begin; when are you thinking about the struggle of the actor on stage? Crouch is a master at handling the situation. I have read the play as well, and I tell you concept is magnificently constructed. Be prepared for something different, but don’t miss this show. I’m driving from Boston to see it again! |
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My recommendation:
must see!
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I saw this show with:
Spouse/Partner
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Adults
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save your money Review by: Rick, Nov 20, 2006 |
This is by far the worst show I have ever seen.
There was no story line. Simply put, picture one person standing on stage telling another "actor" say this....
I've seen better plays in highschool.
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My recommendation:
Don't go
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I saw this show with:
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Recommended for:
Business Assoc.
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Felt sorry for the guest star Review by: kernel, Nov 17, 2006 |
| The leaflets being distributed for this show promise something which is frankly not carried out in the performance; the improvisation by a different actor at each show unfamiliar with the play. The lines are fed throughout the play either thru an earpiece or out loud. Very disappointed. |
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My recommendation:
Don't go
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Completely fresh Review by: Shirl, Nov 10, 2006 |
| You'll have expectations about this show, but it's impossible to predict what you're going to feel, which is an absolutely amazing, eerie sense of something definitely worth feeling. |
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My recommendation:
must see!
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I saw this show with:
Spouse/Partner
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Recommended for:
Romantic Date, Seniors, Tourists
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| * Review is an opinion of a BroadwayBox user and not that of BroadwayBox.com and BroadwayBox, Inc. |
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