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One Man's As Good As Another: A Review from The Stage
Is it possible to write a review from the other side of the fourth wall. The fourth wall may be a term that is foreign to some people so I will explain, it is the imaginary wall between the audience and the play. It is our voyeuristic side coming out where we can come out and see something that we are not supposed to see. It is the same reason that people watch reality tv shows. But it is rare that we can actually see something that is new behind that fourth wall. John Cruncleton's play, "One Man's As Good As Another" does just that. It breaks us out of the continuous mold that has become theatre today. A medium that just entertains and doesn't inform.
At the heart of One Man's As Good As Another, is that spirit of informing the audience through entertainment. It's giving them a vitamin wrapped in a cream puff so that it goes down better. The story is epic and one that deserves attention. It's current, with the parallels drawn from the times we are in now to the times we were in back then. The play to me, adds a history lesson to an already great play
The stories interweaves through the lives of two small tiime criminals, Chick and Zip who through a couple of mishaps are mistaken for the famous gangsters George Birdwell and Charles Arthur Floyd, known to his friends as Pretty Boy.
The play lends itself to the lyrical nature of the writing of John Cruncleton, with the rich text and the subtext that you can only get from a John Cruncleton piece. This play is an original that is more of an event than a play. Shakespeare in this time, wrote in the five act structure. This structure was fairly mapped out in Aristotle's Poetics as follows:
Act 1 -- Exposition. We meet the dramatis personae, and time and place are established. We learn about the antecedents of the story. Attention is directed toward the germ of conflict and dramatic tensions.
Act 2 -- Complications. The course of action becomes more complicated, the "tying of knots" takes place. Interests clash, intrigues are spawned, events accelerate in a definite direction. Tension mounts, and momentum builds up.
Act 3 -- The Climax of Action. The development of conflict reaches its high point, the Hero stands at the crossroads, leading to victory or defeat, crashing or soaring.
Act 4 -- Falling Action. Reversals. The consequences of Act 3 play out, momentum slows, and tension is heightened by false hopes/fears. If it's a tragedy, it looks like the Hero can be saved. If not, then it looks like all may be lost.
Act 5 -- Catastrophe. The conflict is resolved, whether through a catastrophe, the downfall of the hero, or through his victory and transfiguration.
Ref:http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~deis/fiveact.html
Through this five act structure, we see a glimpse of what the dramatic structure is. The scene is set, conflict happens, it comes to a head, the aftermath approaches and a new level or stasis is achieved.
This type of play was long. And the reason for this was because there was no other entertainment in the area to watch. Theatre was an event, religious, ceremonial, and communal. But is there a place for this in the modern world. With technology taking over our brains and a long movie being replaced by a webisode. The world is ready for bite sized chunks of the Elizabethan dramatic structure. Case in point, I recently became a fan of the web series, "Afterworld", which was very long. Approximately 162 videos about 2 minutes long. The series was approximately 5.4 hours of apocalyptic fun, but can you watch this in one sitting? How many times have you set on the couch all day to watch marathons of Sex and the City or the Sopranos or any other series. I am currently on the fourth season of Six Feet Under, and I watch that show because sometimes I need to be reminded how lucky I am to be alive. The best way for me to enjoy One Man's As Good As Another would be to bring a pillow, and just enjoy the surroundings, to talk to your neighbor or friend during the show and experience it.
So in conclusion, One Man's As Good As Another is an Epic masterpiece of country stories. John Crucleton has achieved something lyrical, magical, and truly theatrical with his play and his writing and we are fortunate to have it in our theatrical community. If you want to see the same old theatre that you won't remember what you saw, then by all means go see a play. But if you want to be challenged, mentally, physically and at the core, remind yourself what it's like to be human. Try something different this weekend and fill the house for One Man's As Good As Another, Friday and Saturday at 8pm at the Nightingale Theater.
At the heart of One Man's As Good As Another, is that spirit of informing the audience through entertainment. It's giving them a vitamin wrapped in a cream puff so that it goes down better. The story is epic and one that deserves attention. It's current, with the parallels drawn from the times we are in now to the times we were in back then. The play to me, adds a history lesson to an already great play
The stories interweaves through the lives of two small tiime criminals, Chick and Zip who through a couple of mishaps are mistaken for the famous gangsters George Birdwell and Charles Arthur Floyd, known to his friends as Pretty Boy.
The play lends itself to the lyrical nature of the writing of John Cruncleton, with the rich text and the subtext that you can only get from a John Cruncleton piece. This play is an original that is more of an event than a play. Shakespeare in this time, wrote in the five act structure. This structure was fairly mapped out in Aristotle's Poetics as follows:
Act 1 -- Exposition. We meet the dramatis personae, and time and place are established. We learn about the antecedents of the story. Attention is directed toward the germ of conflict and dramatic tensions.
Act 2 -- Complications. The course of action becomes more complicated, the "tying of knots" takes place. Interests clash, intrigues are spawned, events accelerate in a definite direction. Tension mounts, and momentum builds up.
Act 3 -- The Climax of Action. The development of conflict reaches its high point, the Hero stands at the crossroads, leading to victory or defeat, crashing or soaring.
Act 4 -- Falling Action. Reversals. The consequences of Act 3 play out, momentum slows, and tension is heightened by false hopes/fears. If it's a tragedy, it looks like the Hero can be saved. If not, then it looks like all may be lost.
Act 5 -- Catastrophe. The conflict is resolved, whether through a catastrophe, the downfall of the hero, or through his victory and transfiguration.
Ref:http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~deis/fiveact.html
Through this five act structure, we see a glimpse of what the dramatic structure is. The scene is set, conflict happens, it comes to a head, the aftermath approaches and a new level or stasis is achieved.
This type of play was long. And the reason for this was because there was no other entertainment in the area to watch. Theatre was an event, religious, ceremonial, and communal. But is there a place for this in the modern world. With technology taking over our brains and a long movie being replaced by a webisode. The world is ready for bite sized chunks of the Elizabethan dramatic structure. Case in point, I recently became a fan of the web series, "Afterworld", which was very long. Approximately 162 videos about 2 minutes long. The series was approximately 5.4 hours of apocalyptic fun, but can you watch this in one sitting? How many times have you set on the couch all day to watch marathons of Sex and the City or the Sopranos or any other series. I am currently on the fourth season of Six Feet Under, and I watch that show because sometimes I need to be reminded how lucky I am to be alive. The best way for me to enjoy One Man's As Good As Another would be to bring a pillow, and just enjoy the surroundings, to talk to your neighbor or friend during the show and experience it.
So in conclusion, One Man's As Good As Another is an Epic masterpiece of country stories. John Crucleton has achieved something lyrical, magical, and truly theatrical with his play and his writing and we are fortunate to have it in our theatrical community. If you want to see the same old theatre that you won't remember what you saw, then by all means go see a play. But if you want to be challenged, mentally, physically and at the core, remind yourself what it's like to be human. Try something different this weekend and fill the house for One Man's As Good As Another, Friday and Saturday at 8pm at the Nightingale Theater.
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