Performance Title: Return to the Forbidden Planet
Theather Name/Location: Singapore American School Auditorium
Date Reviewed: October 9th, 2014
Written By: Bob Carlton
Directed By: Tom Schulz
Stars: 4
The story started off in a science space ship. The ship soon takes off and many problems start to occur. The ships's captain tempest and science officer get into a quarrel about women the captain believes that women are powerless and not needed in the world. As the are fighting the ship gets caught in a meteor shower, and the Science officer suggests that they uses the shuttle craft to abandon the ship, but the captain insists on flying through the storm. During the confusion, the science officer escapes the ship via shuttle craft and the spaceship is drawn mysteriously to the planet D'lllyria where the crew met made scientist Doctor Prospero. Dr. Prospero has been marooned on the planet since his wife, Gloria, sent him and their daughter, Miranda, into space. Doctor offers to help repair the broken starship if he, his daughter, and robot named Ariel can come aboard. The moment, Cookie, the ship's chef, lays eyes on Miranda, he instantly falls in love. But she has fallen in love with the captain, against the will of her father. During discussions of locating the escaped science officer, Ariel reveals information about Doctor Prospero's new formula "X factor", which can enhance the brain and mind. After an argument between Dr. Prospero and Miranda over her love for the captain, Prospero takes the X factor. Later, the ship is attacked by a foul monster, but during the attack it's revealed that Ariel is in the airlock with the missing Science Officer. To save them both, Captain Tempest orders airlock to be opened, allowing the monster to gain access to the ship. During this confusion Gloria's past is revealed (I don't want to say what happens, because it'll ruin the story). Captain puts Gloria in ship arrest after he hers about her past and all the bad that she has done to her husband and daughter. But an alliance is formed with Cookie and Gloria. Gloria makes Cookie steal the X factor in exchange of some love advice. When the monster returns, it's revealed that it's created by Dr. Prospero's mind due to having taken the X factor. Gloria also makes peace with Dr. Prospero over her earlier actions, and explains why she had to do what she did. Prospero then makes a decision that affects the conclusion of the story and the fate of all the passengers aboard the space ship.
The lighting really contributed to the feel of the story and added a kind of real feeling to the set. Although it was very bright, and could get a little complicated, it still was amazing. There were flashing lights, when the ship was destructing. There were spotlights when a main character was talking or singing. There were also different colored cychlorama's (cyc) throughout the performance. When the feeling was happy, it was bright and colorful. When Gloria or Doctor Prospero came on it was a little darker. I also remember when Gloria's song came about the importance of women and about her the lighting became a little red to match her costumes. I feel like the lighting we do in class is very different the lighting at this performance. One thing is that in class we have quite simple lighting plans and never go up to 100%. In this show the lighting was very complicated and had a lot of components that were added together for each scene. They also did a really good job incorporating sound affects with the lighting. This really enhanced the quality of the performance. At times, the lighting was a little much and could take away from the actors performance, but it really helped set the mood.
The set was HUGE, DETAILED, and ASTOUNDING! Unlike, some shows and performances, there was only one set throughout the whole thing. But in this one amazing set there were many layers and levels. Many structures which people stood on, danced on, sung on, and played instruments on. There were also many lights and screens attached to the walls which helped make the set look more high tech and science space shipish. There was the stage level that had three ramps: left, middle, and right. Then in between the ramps there were two things which you could stand on and looked like it was a touch screen computer that they were pressing commands and orders into. But really it was just one of those things which you put your music sheet on, so that you can look at it when your singing or playing an instruments. Then above this first level there were steps leading the the captain's chair that was surrounded with space gadgets, such as a suit, nerf like guns, and other cool things. Then a little higher and to the left and right of the captain's chair, was where the singers danced and sang on the left. And was where the teachers played the music on the right. Between the singers and musicians there was a huge screen where you could see space outside, Doctor Prospero's video when they first landed in D'lllyria, and other things. The lighting along with the little details hanging on the walls of the set really added to the feeling of being on a space ship. I really found this setting interesting and especially loved the different layers. The captain's chair was also just a normal swirly chair which teachers have but they painted it and made it look as if it was really part of the space ship. I loved how they turned ordinary things in classrooms, into looking as if they were part of a space ship.
The costumes was also really nice and added to the performance. I liked how each main character had it's own individual sense of style and own costume that made them look unique. I like how the costumes were simple but also very creative, the cast was able to turn something ordinary and make it look very modern and futuristic. The Captain had a cool outfit that wasn't too bright but still stood out against the ensemble, it has kind of silver, gold, and a couple other colors. Doctor Prospero has a grey/black, basically a dark outfit, matching his character. His cape was extremely shiny and sparkly and really stood out. Cookie had a shimmery silver shirt, with the chef outfit buttons on the top, black pants, and the big white chef hat. Ariel had a really cool kind of football gear costume and then added tubes and other things to help make him look like a robot. Miranda had a pretty pink and purple dress with her blonde hair, that really reflected her age, innocence, and beauty. Gloria had a red and black feathery costume. This costume really made her look scary and gave her that depth that really matches her character. She also had this kind of black cape type thing behind her which The ensemble had mostly blue and greyish/silver outfits, that had cool shapes and designs, making them look futuristic. These costumes really added a huge affect to the show. The costume were quite unique and I really loved how creative Ariel's outfit was. This one particular costume really stood out to me the most since it was created uniquely and had many different tubes and wires that really made it come to life, and made us feel that he was a robot aboard a space ship.
Overall, I really enjoyed the show. It was amazing and the time flew by so fast because I was having a great time. What I really loved about the show and what really helped the story flow, was the ensemble. The ensemble was amazing, the amount of dances and songs the had to learn and how in sync they were was amazing. The dance moves weren't that complicated but weren't easy, the ensemble did a really good job dancing with emotion throughout the show with very clean moves. The ensemble were also very energetic and really stuck to their character throughout the show. I really loved how they would get down on their knees, and check the plane, when something bad was going on and everything was chaotic and lights were flashing. It really helped set the mood and environment. The show wouldn't have been the same without the cast. One thing that I've never seen before is that in the beginning the ensemble comes up to you and interacts with out. They give you safety information, like they would give you if you were about to take off in an airplane, they told us what actions to do and when. This really helped us get involved with the experience and really made me focused and intrigued. I also like how in the show some dancers came off stage and really danced with you in between the aisles. They would look straight into your eyes and really connect with you when they were dancing. This made it a whole lot more enjoyable. I also like how they were able to use everyday things in a classroom and simple objects transforming them to as if they were really things part of a futuristic space ship. For example, Ariel's costume was so cool. It was in the form of a football uniform, but then they went a couple steps further and added tubes and wires, which really made him look like a robot. Also the chair that the captain tempest sat on was a simple teacher's classroom desk chair. But the handles were painted, and there was this huge cardboard figure behind the chair, which made it look as if it was one of those thrones kings and queens sat on. The lighting was really good and added to the mood and feeling of the show, but it could be a little distracting at times, taking away form the performance. The setting was amazing and really added to the show. I loved the little nerf guns on the walls of the ships, the different levels of the set, and the big screen at the back, this elements all really made the scientific space ship really come to life. The talent was also really good as the singers were on key and excellent. The dancers kept their emotion throughout the whole show. The musicians were non-stop playing wonderful music, and were really part of the show acting like they too were passengers on the space ship.
In conclusion, I really had a great time watching the show. I felt like the show really came to life thanks to the great actors, set, costuming, lighting, sound effects, and ensemble. The ensemble really interacted with you on a totally different scale than usual which was very fun. All audiences would really like this show. But if you're under the age of maybe 10, then you might not understand really what's going on all the time. I say this because mostly all of the words were Shakespearean, so you might not be able to comprehend what is happening at some points. But the acting skills and emotions of the characters really helps make the words and story line clear.
