Review of Strawdog Theatre Company's DOA

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called D.O.A. It was from the script by Russell Rouse and Clarence Greene and it was adapted and directed by Elizabeth Lovelady. It was about this man named Bigelow (Mickey O'Sullivan) and he had just gone on vacation to San Francisco. While he was there he was poisoned and told that he only had a few hours to live. And he spends those hours trying to find out who poisoned him. And he talks to his girlfriend/secretary Paula (Megan Skord) and tries to make up to her. It was about redemption, revenge, and determination. I found it super mysterious and cool and very exciting. I really liked this show.

The show was performed in a very small space, which I think made the show even cooler because you felt like you were right there in the scenes. All the set (Mike Mroch), costumes (Raquel Adorno), and props (Jamie Karas) were all in black and white. Most of the lighting (John Kelly) was very dark too. It made it more mysterious and feel more threatening. It also made it seem like a noir, black and white movie. It was like watching an old movie brought to life. I thought the makeup was super cool. I liked how it was black and white too. I also liked how people's faces were the only bit of color in the whole show. It was a cool contrast to have everything black and white and the skin color was the only kind of color that there was because it put together stylization and humanity.

I loved all the fights (by R&D Choreography). I felt so involved in the experience that when someone got out a gun, I was worried I would be shot myself. My favorite fight was the one where Bigelow and Chester (Sean McGill) were using flashlights so you would only see a part of the fight and then another flash of the fight and then darkness. It was super creepy, but I really loved it. I also really liked the fight between Paula, Mrs. Phillips (Carol Ludwick), and Ms. Foster (Kelsey Shipley). It really showed a lot of girl power and it was really action-packed and cool. Even though it wasn't a very long fight, it was really cool and I really liked it.

Paula and Ms. Foster were two of my favorite characters. They were super powerful and both of them were pretty clever. I think that Ms. Foster's planning was a little bit better, but then Paula foiled her plan and they had an awesome fight. I also thought it was really cool that they had Ms. Foster and Mrs. Phillips be in love with each other. I thought that was a really awesome update from the older story. I thought that Bigelow had a lot of flaws, but he was still a cool character. He seemed to really like his girlfriend, but he didn't tell her truth, and I don't understand why he would do something like that if he really loved his girlfriend.

People who would like this show are people who like noir, badass women, and flashlight fights. I think people should definitely go see this show. It was a really awesome and exciting experience, and I really loved seeing this show.


Photos: Tom McGrath