Schrödinger’s Cat

Ditch Water—Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall

Given that this company has two performances under their belt, this show took a long time to find its feet. I really wanted to like this show. It had young and eager actors and a script with an interesting premise. But sadly, it did not deliver.

The performer playing Zack (?), the boyfriend, was a stand out in the show. He had good comedic timing, we could hear him, and his character was likeable and believable. The actor playing Professor X had one shining moment in the one hour production, when he regressed into a cat laying with a ball of yarn. Nice work, and it got a few laughs.

Pretty much everything else was problematic. The Professor character delivered most of his lines to the floor. And at one point I wanted to rush the stage and nail his shoes to the stage – his shuffling was so distracting. Beatrix, the villain of the piece, had very little stage presence, and when the same actor played the girlfriend, her stage presence was even less. The prop cat provided everyone with a very brief moment of interest, and the pharmaceutical-style commercial was produced well and was very believable. But it didn’t need to be aired twice. And to see its two actors, I had to go to a different show.

After really slogging through about forty minutes of the performance, it dawned on me that the show was trying to be campy, in the style of Back To The Future. I think.

The handout at the door had no credits or information about the company, the playwright or actors. I don’t know their experience level, whether or not there was a director, or if this was a first time effort.

By the way guys, teleporters (transporters) are not a Star Wars, but a Star Trek thing.

Michelle Cook