Review of Strangeloop Theatre's Thinking Caps

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called Thinking Caps. It was by Keith Gatchel and it was directed by Maria Burnham. It was about these devices called Thinking Caps that you put on your head and then it had web pages and virtual worlds you could walk around. You didn't look at a screen; it transmitted this images into your mind. The story is about a husband and wife, Charles (Drew Wancket) and Maggie (Laura Stratford) who started out just as work buddies but they end up making their life together. Charles thinks Thinking Caps could be dangerous, but Maggie thinks that they are the best things that have ever happened. It is about using technology too much until it hurts you. I don't think the writer thinks technology is all bad, though, because he still shows the good sides to it. It is also about relationships. I thought this was a very fun show. I thought it was very clever and cool. It made me think about the usage of smart phones and about romance.

There are two sides in the show. One believes we should make people use Thinking Caps less because then it will hurt people less. That person is named Kim Ayers (Jaclyn Jensen) and Charles agrees with her. I think that is a good idea; she doesn't want to take them away, just to make them hurt people less. But she isn't really a good guy because she is trying to warn people about the dangers but she is doing it in a scary way and it hurts you because they are trying to relive the instances where people have been killed while using these headsets. There is also another side where there is this man named David Scrab (Casey Kells) who thinks they should be able to use them whenever they want because then he will make more money. The thing that is good about his point of view is that he enables people to talk to each other like they are really there even if they're not, which I think is a great thing. But then he should just put more research into it before just putting it out there before anyone has done research to see if it is harmful. Maggie works for him as a designer and builder and that is good for her because she gets to do what she loves. She is very creative. But then she finds out all the terrible things that David Scrab is doing. I think that technology is a good thing and I am glad we have it, but I don't think we should use it too much or bad things could happen to the world and to you.

I liked the scene where Charles and Maggie first got together on the headnet. I think they seemed like two amazing, sweet, talented people who fall in love. And if it weren't for the headnet they probably wouldn't have gotten to know and love each other. They worked together, but it was different when they could be alone on the headnet and just talk to each other about everything. They are able to show each other the most important parts of their lives, which is probably something they wanted to show each other but then never could at work because they have to be working. But then the headnet also destroyed their lives. I think that it was good to have the love scene at the beginning because it shows how this entire thing began and you want them to get together and once they do you just feel happy. Then when things start to go wrong you feel even sadder.

I really liked the scene with the baby Emma (Ellen DeSitter). Maggie and Charles had a baby that you are introduced to pretty early, but then you get to see what she might look like when she is older but she still has a baby's mind in this scene. So she looks older but she still has a baby's mind and they have this precious daddy-daughter moment which is where he tells her all about Superman and how he's not swimming in the sky, he is flying. It showed that the dad was a really big nerd (and I mean that well because I am nerd) and he wanted his daughter to be that way as well. I liked this scene because it was really funny how she would smile at whatever he said, which is something a bunch of babies do. At first, I thought it was just a bad portrayal of children, because I was like, kids would know all about words and talking and flying. But then the thing is she still has a baby's mind and her avatar looks like what she'll look like when she looks older, but she's not older. So that explains why she is acting like kind of an idiot--because she's just like four months old! Then I thought that that was pretty cool. I would like to see what I will look like when I'm older!

People who would like this show are people who like virtual reality, scifi, and Superman. I think people should definitely go see this show. I think it is an amazing low-budget production and I really want you to go see it. I had a lot of fun.

Photos: Chris Owens