Review of Uncle Vanya at Strawdog Theatre

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called Uncle Vanya by Chekhov. It was at Strawdog. Finding your seats is very easy. People tell you where to sit. I have a seat that has my name on it. I like the seats because they are comfortable. Before the show starts there were some people who I knew, and I talked to them at the intermission. If anyone gets hungry in the middle of the show, wait until the intermission.

Uncle Vanya is an uncle who is drunk. He is kind of mean sometimes. He adores a girl named Sonya. Why, do you ask? Because he loves his niece. Vanya really likes Yelena because he really just follows her around a lot because I think he loves her. I think he likes Astrov, but he doesn’t love him. When Astrov and Yelena kiss, Uncle Vanya drops the roses and is like “I guess that’s the end.” I think it is kind of funny how he says, “that is done, I guess I’d like to go,” and just leaves. There’s a scene where Vanya is insulting the professor and Sonya stops him. Then he says “I’m guilty, I’m guilty, I’m guilty.” I thought that was funny. I was kind of surprised that Uncle Vanya used the gun. I thought he was just going to pull it out and be about to, and someone would stop him. Or that there wasn’t going to be any sound. He didn’t like the professor. Vanya was kind of angry and sometimes kind of funny. I thought that he did a really good job at doing both of those things. Sometimes both at the same time!

I thought that Sonya was really smart because she stops someone from getting more drunk. I think she really liked Astrov. I think he liked her too, but she is sad because he doesn’t come there to see her. He comes to see Yelena. When she was sad I felt sorry for her. I knew she was sad because she was crying. I thought Michaela’s performance was really good.

I thought Astrov was really hilarious. Why, do you ask? Because he was drunk. I don’t know why he was drunk—he had a lot of alcohol. He liked to drink so much that he drank alcohol so much. Kyle was not drunk. He just tried to act drunk—he did a very good job.

Yelena—I thought that she was very nice and very cute. I though that she was nice a lot of the time, but she was angry some of the time. She talked in a very stern language. She was angry because her husband was acting kind of weird in one of the scenes. Sonya, she got along with. Astrov she didn’t get along with—neither with Uncle Vanya. I understand her position—she wants people to do things which she wants them to do. When they don’t, she feels really angry. I think she did a really good job pretending to be angry.

The funniest scene was one where Astrov, he was with Sonya, and she says no more drinking and he asks: “May I? Can I drink it?” and then she says “No!”

It always took place in a house. It reminded me of my grammy and grandpa’s house because it was very fancy like my grammy and grandpa’s house. They had a window and they had flowers on it. You could see through some parts of it. It was supposed to look like Joseph Cornell boxes, and I thought that was cool because usually people don’t have Cornell boxes in their houses. It was a bright and dark play.

The costumes looked a lot like they were from sometime which wasn’t very long ago. I think it took place in New York or in Paris because one of them had a parasol. And one of them had an outfit that looked like it was from Paris. Yelena’s dress was my favorite. It was really fancy. They looked very fancy—all of them.

The music was sometimes very dramatic and sometimes very cheerful. And in one scene there was a boy named Waffles who was singing a song and they were like “Holy Moly. What? Is? Happening?” And that was the end of the play. It was hilarious. It was not sad because the guy Yelena married didn’t die.

People who like to be surprised would like this show. People who have a very good taste for entertainment would like this play. I think younger kids could see it as long as someone reminds them that someone gets out a gun and uses it. I think the age would be 4 and up.

(Photo by Chris Ocken)

Review of Wilson Wants It All at the House Theatre

Once upon a time I went to a play—it was called Wilson Wants It All and it was played at The House. If you would like any instructions on how to get to The House, just call us and we will give you directions. How they treat you is very nice, and if you want to talk to anyone, ask me and I will ask one of my friends if they can get you into the backstage. The actors come out of the backstage and come up and talk to people before the show starts. I liked that. If you ever get hungry we might have something we can eat together. Someone gave me chocolate and they might give you chocolate some time. If you like you might go to the café and they might have something you would like.

My friend was in the first movie. She played a baby and she really was a baby. And she played a girl named Hope. That is one of the sisters; their names are Ruth and Hope.

The sisters traded places and you see them trade places but the good thing is that they are not really naked—they have an underdress on under it. I could tell them apart so I knew they were not really twin sisters. I loved their performances—they did have funny conversations sometimes.

The guy who played Remy is really funny. Remy is kind of funny but the other characters in the play don’t think he is funny in the play. One of my favorite lines was “Hey, I think I got this straight now!”

Wilson thought that everything would be all right if he lied, and at the end something bad happens to him. His performance was very good because he did a very good job at playing mean. I loved his character. It was the best character in all the play. I liked that sometimes he was nice and sometimes he was mean—I thought that was really cool.

I liked the mom. She was very nice. I do know kind of why she was nice all the time—because she wanted to be very nice to Wilson, but when she found out he was lying all the time she got mad. She got mad because Wilson lied to her, but she didn’t know why he lied.

Bryan is very nice. He helps Wilson. And he likes the sisters.

Abu plays a news reporter and so did Emjoy and Maria and Joey and Elana and Michael. They were really funny. The part of Greg was really funny too. There is a part where he keeps going back and forth and then just stands there and Abu says you have to go back and he goes back. Maria’s news reporter was really enthusiastic. I liked all the news reporter scenes. Why, do you ask? Because all of them are funny because almost every news reporter is funny. They moved around very funny and Greg just goes around back and forth, back and forth and it was very funny. And I think you would think it was funny too.

Almost every costume had a button on it to show their love for the government. I think the star is the chip. The chip keeps them from having babies. The costumes were red and black and white and yellow. They looked very realistic. They looked like they were from a different time.

One of my favorite scenes was a scene where Hope was at work and Remy gave her flowers. In the scenes there was something I think you would think is funny but it wasn’t funny to me. It was the ad that Remy made. I agreed with Ruth—she didn’t like it. She says that is what someone did before he killed Lincoln.

They put in a part where they said, “What shall we do?” “I don’t know.” and that was the end of the play. It made a better ending than in previews because if they didn’t know what to do, there might be a sequel. That’s what the director might say: “I think there might be a sequel.”

It is supposed to be teary, so it is okay if you cry, but you have to hold it in until the play is over. I would like this play even more if there was less violence. People who like to cry would like this play. And if they are nice they would like it. If you are interested in culture you would like the play. I loved it!

The end.

(Photo by John Taflan)