Comments on: Seascape

By: Rosalind Lacy MacLennan

Rosalind Lacy MacLennan — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:18:54 +0000

For me, Edward Albee’s Seascape was such a profound, upbeat affirmation of life, I came out much preferring lizards to people. Albee’s Loch Ness monsters by far live a kinder, gentler existence. Think of it. At a birth rate of 7,000 eggs after “coupling,” and based on the last line in the play, the sea creatures stand to inherit the earth. I wish TACT would extend this production for eternity or at least for another month or keep this masterpiece in their repertoire and remount it again. Bravo!

By: John Goldstone

John Goldstone — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 05:27:52 +0000

Is this the review you are talking about for Rorschach’s Living Dead in Denmark?
http://dctheatrescene.com/2009.....denmark-2/

By: Ernie Joselovitz

Ernie Joselovitz — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 02:13:19 +0000

Where’s the Rorschach Theatre review promised in email?

By: Barbara B

Barbara B — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 04:44:14 +0000

I was liking the play very much and enjoying the conversation between the ‘land’ couple — but I began to thoroughly enjoy the play once the ‘sea’ creatures came ashore. The sea creatures costumes were wonderful – I couldn’t take my eyes off off them.

By: Gene Barnes

Gene Barnes — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:23:47 +0000

I agree that the technical and artistic values are wonderfully high in this production. The set alone showed a lot of TLC. The sound, thankfully, did not include the almost-obligatory (these days, anyway) vapid pop song(s) that many producer-directors seem to think gets us in the mood. The blocking was impressively clean and focused.

I would quibble that all the lines were delivered as they should have been, particularly by the first couple (Craig Miller and Annie Houston). (Accurate inflection is everything when you’re talking like just regular people.) The pace, though, was just right.

The story, as I see it, draws a parallel between the land couple’s discussion about moving on to something new at the close of their life and the sea couple’s decision to move on to something new, namely, dry land. Their final move is life-affirming, but not like oh, tra-la-la.

The introduction of the creatures into the play is quite problematic. One often feels that Albee is spinning his wheels working out a common ground of communication between the two couples, rather than moving the story forward. It’s a serious weakness of the play.

But even then, it’s an engaging piece of theater, and I’m happy to have seen both this production and the one I saw in Detroit about 30 years ago.