Recently I attended the New Voices performance of Retrain Timing Bitch. The feature actually consisted of four short mini-plays that were unrelated to each other. Each of these performances bore an entirely different set of circumstances from black humor to comedy to tragedy.
The first, a hilarious but brief performance, was known as A View From The Tower. Playwright Roy S. Rubenstein's humorous, but violent piece opens with the theme song from the PBS children's show Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. As the play begins we see Jim, a WPI student, portrayed by actual WPI student, Matthew Denicourt, standing on Alden Tower high above the campus. He exclaims to himself what a beautiful day it is and how he can see all over the campus. Then he spots his Chemistry teacher and exclaims, "I hope my Chem professor is having as great a day as I am. He makes my day so much better because he reminds me of how he NR'd me and half of my class." At this point he hoists an assault rifle and targets the teacher. After gunning down his chem teacher he finishes off his delinquent IQP partner and rejoices in how much better the day is looking. After Jim assassinates a couple more people and a few innocent animals, Professor Robbins (Alan Stering) climbs the stair and appears on the tower. He questions Jim's stress release technique until he sees the campus provost that refused him a raise. He grabs the gun and releases a round. He then proceeds to gun down a police officer who is ticketing his car. Each continue shooting until their ammo supply ends at which point the piece ended.
I found Tower to be quite comic. Denicourt's performance improved the work even further due to his excellent expression of cheerfulness and happiness. This enhances the comedy further. The spray of blood that hit the tower after one kill was an excellent visual laugh. One of my favorite lines was spoken by Professor Robbins. At one point when he blasts another victim he says "You'd think some of these people might realize what's going on. Oh well!"
The second feature, known as Imperfect Timing, was a pseudo seaside romance by Amy Sinyei. The setting is the stereotypical moonlit night on the beach. Jason (Keith Turi) and Maggie (Courtney Lewis) portray a young couple on a date. Jason attempts to use his charm and subtle connotations to steal a kiss and maybe more from Maggie. Maggie says that her parents always said that she had quite a short attention span. Courtney Lewis' portrayal of Maggie's short attention span is superb. She often cuts off Jason and other times she frequently changes the subject. A few examples of the witty remarks made in this work are when Jason proclaims that his arm hurts. He says "Maggie could you please play nurse to me?" and she responds with the quick remark of "No, I haven't decided on my career yet."
To, in a way, offset the upbeat comedy of the early part of the work, New Voices presented another play by Amy Sinyei, A Little Bitch at The World. This mini feature was one girl expressing her thoughts over the death of her father and the response of her friends and relatives to the death. The girl, played by Christina Caverly, seems in many ways to be self-centered. She doesn't respect the fact that people are trying are trying to help her in time of crisis. She seems to think that she is the only one that has had a death in the family that was close to her. Christina Caverly deserves particular commendation for her outstanding performance. Much of the play was almost entirely a monologue acted out by Caverly. She seems to understand and take the role of the character she is portraying. Her sadness seems very real -- an effect that is difficult to achieve. Playwright Amy Sinyei shows her versatility from being able to range from the Imperfect Timing to A Little Bitch at the World. Each performs very well.
The final work of the four past series was introduced with thumping techno overtones and a strange symbol projected onto the middle of the stage. Retrain (Protocol), by N. Harrison Ripps, opened with a triple homicide, but with one of the victims leaving the scene after being shot 8 times. Soon after the police call upon detective Aaron Slight (Later we find out that "Emichron Jane" is a new device known as nanotech machine-an artificial person). Apparently she had been sent out to test whether or not her artificial programming was operable. By sheer coincidence Jane (Anna Matzal) happens to meet Slight at a coffee shop. He makes no connection until later when Dr. Immelheim (Dave Eaton) comes to get Jane and return to her lab. It is at this point that the Leech mob, that killed the three people in the beginning, ends up catching Slight, Immelheim and Jane in a robbery. Immelheim tells them to go ahead and shoot Jane right in the head because she is merely a machine. Immelheim proves his point later when he returns the bloody Jane back to life in his laboratory. Jane ends up revolting and destroys the lab. Then she heads out on her own to seek her own destiny. Slight trys to stop her, but it is of no use. Her artificial intelligence has allowed her to learn.
I enjoyed the production very much as a whole. I found the black humor of A View From The Tower to be quite hilarious. The acting in both Imperfect Timing and A Little Bitch at the World is superb and finally the Special effects and the acting of Retrain(Protocol) were also deserving merit. I especially enjoyed the thumping, grinding music of Protocol for the great theatrical enhancement it provided to the show. I would recommend New Voices to all theater goers as an organization well worth viewing in action.