It is hard to deny that theater has lost popularity as a form of entertainment for today's younger generations. To many of us, theater either means over-the-top Broadway musicals or college productions of Shakespeare. Despite the fact that the world of theater encompasses so much more, none of it has really succeeded in attracting those of us from the high-tech, digital generation. Enter 4th Wall Productions, a small theater troupe of recent OU grads with big ideas to make theater more relevant, accessible and enjoyable for people their own age. 4th Wall made their Cleveland premiere this past weekend at The Cleveland Playhouse's Brooks Theater. The play, Plans Change, was directed by Rebecca Cole and written by Matthew A. Sprosty, a 2000 Westlake High School graduate. Plans Change is the story of a group of friends in their early 20s trying to figure out what the next step in their lives should be. When a broken condom forces long-time couple Hugh and Rachel to make these decisions too quickly, the group begins to delve into the big questions. Is love enough to keep a marriage together? Is love even necessary for a marriage to work? Can marriage be the wrong choice even if it's with the right person? While the story deals with serious issues, it manages to stay light-hearted, funny and fast-paced without trivializing these important questions. Sprosty has a gift for dialogue that keeps the audience engaged and entertained. The conversations are natural and realistic and give the feeling of being a part of an intimate conversation between close friends, rather than listening to actors on a stage. And even though the guys' conversations were more convincing than the girls', a little fine tuning could easily solve that problem. The cast was excellent, without a weak performance in the ensemble. Justin Tatum plays Hugh, the nice guy who has been planning his wedding since the age of 8 and Karli Dalton plays Rachel, a wholesome girl from a good Catholic family. The cast is rounded out by Ston (Rudy Frias), Hugh's wealthy roommate and best friend; Gina (Libby Ewing), the gold-digging, independent woman who falls for Ston's marriage proposal; Werrick ( E.B. Smith), the guy with so many girls he can't keep their names straight; and Jimmy (Dash Combs), the working-class underdog whose insecurities provide comic relief. Maggie Arndt gave an especially amusing performance as Fayna Louisa Rodriguez, a Latina wannabe whose biggest pet peeve is when people speak Spanish just because they know she can't understand. 4th Wall has no specific plans of what their next project will be or when it will happen, but they do have some ideas in the works and are seeking suggestions and feedback from the public. This is definitely a group full of young, fresh talent that is worth keeping an eye on. You can be sure to see good things from them in the future.
from Cool Cleveland reader Vanessa Lange vlange@wooster.edu (:divend:)