Review of The New Colony's Plastic Revolution at the Den Theatre

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called Plastic Revolution. The book was by Will Cavedo and Andrew Hobgood, and the lyrics were by Hobgood. The composer was Julie Nichols. The director was Evan Linder and the musical director was Charlotte Rivard-Hoster. The choreographer was Steve Love. It was about Tupperware! I know that doesn't seem like much of a plot but it actually is because it is about the early Tupperware parties and how they were run and how Tupperware got big. It is also about what it is like being a housewife and how Tupperware would save you two hours a week to just be yourself. I think that people should definitely go see this show because it is just a load of fun and it makes you feel very happy because it is such a funny and surprisingly touching show.

There is this woman named Delores Clarke (Sasha Smith) who had just lost her husband (Joshua R. Bartlett), and then one day Brownie Wise (Cassie Thompson) came to her house with an idea to have Tupperware parties and she wanted Delores to be one of the saleswomen. Brownie was basically the hyper one and I thought that her kid sounded like they should probably have him checked out at a hospital or something to see if he had eyesight problems…or worse. And Brownie presented her idea with a song and dance with basically the ghost of Delores' husband tap dancing! I loved the costumes (by Nathan R. Rohrer). I thought they were awesome and I would wear all of the dresses any day of the week. And the dance was very old-fashioned and I love old-fashioned dances and the choreography was great. During the scene Brownie was trying to pitch the idea to Delores and they placed a crown upon Delores' head and a giant head of a comic-book-designed woman just rolled itself out. There was also a giant dancing Tupperware bowl (Danny Taylor), and you don't see that everyday, and I found it hilarious. It was exactly like an old-fashioned commercial!

I really liked the song "Two Hours." It was a very nice song because it is about how these women want to be able to have two hours a week to be themselves. So then they would feel like they are not just a wife but also whatever they want to be. There is this woman named Gladys (Lizzie Schwarzrock) who used to do pageants and then when she got married she couldn't do that anymore because she had a husband and a kid and she had to cook meals and clean the house. And they had these really cool portable household things that they would be doing as they sang. Gladys was ironing. I thought that those wearable props were really awesome. Gladys's character seemed like the least bright one, but I think she still deserved some time in the day to just think about pageants. I really liked Gertie's (Elise Mayfield) part where she was doing the dishes. She wanted to go travel everywhere and see the world. But when she became a wife she had to give up that dream. And that is why these days men can take off work so they can go on a vacation with their family. Kitty Toots (Daeshawna Cook) used to be a jazzy blues girl who was naughty all the time. But then she thought she had to get married because her parents hadn't been. She was rolling a pie crust out for dinner. And I felt sorry for her because she just wanted to be able to dance and sing every night and have a few beers. Maybe a shot of gin. And she couldn't do that because her husband wanted her to be a proper housewife and stay home and work. I think this song was very great because it showed what housewives used to do and how when their husband got home and their kids were in bed they couldn't just sit down and talk about their day while they had a beer. The man could, but they couldn't. And I felt like these women should be able to have all the same privileges as men.

I really liked Lilah Johnstonton (Taylor) even though she was sort of the bad guy; you felt sorry for her because she didn't believe in Tupperware. She thought that it would just make women want to abandon their families and leave them all alone with no one to cook for them. There is this very sad solo song that she sang about what had happened to her and why did no one want to talk to her or have tea with her anymore. And she was knitting this giant scarf which I found really funny because the scarf was like insanely long. And when Kitty came in, she said, "Well, that scarf looks, well…done." I really admire the person who had to just knit that for a very long time and be absolutely patient. I think that Danny did an amazing job at playing this woman. He just blew me away with how he embraced the character and made her still likable even though she was such a jerk and did not believe in Tupperware.

People who would like this show are people who like old-fashioned commercials, Tupperware, and insanely long scarves. I think this show is very great! It shows you how Tupperware became such a big thing and helped so many women. I never thought of Tupperware being so feminist but now that I think about it, I think that it actually is.


Photos: Ryan Bourque