Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Streaming Diary: RUSSIAN TROLL FARM and a pair of past West End shows (FROM HERE TO ETERNITY & BEING SHAKESPEARE)

• By drediman
• November 12, 2020
• No Comments

Here are my thoughts on recently-streamed theater content.

RUSSIAN TROLL FARM: A WORKPLACE COMEDY
TheaterWorks Hartford / TheatreSquared / The Civilians

Just in time for last week’s U.S. presidential election was Sarah Gancher’s Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy (RECOMMENDED), a co-production between TheaterWorks Hartford and TheatreSquared, in association with the bright folks at The Civilians. Set during the months leading up to the 2016 election, the timely Zoom comedy tells the story of Russia’s Internet Research Agency and its likely impact on election results. More specifically, it hilariously satirizes the behind-the-scenes office politics of the government-backed agency. Given the play’s cornucopia of shenanigans, I was shocked to learn that it was inspired by real life transcripts. Indeed, fact really is stranger than fiction much of the time. Like Circle Jerk, another recent full-length play made for the Internet, Russian Troll Farm handily exceeded my expectations despite its quirky premise and lofty ambitions. Although arguably overstuffed and overlong, both boast sharply-written dialogue and use Zoom technology in inspired ways to capture live performance (kudos to Jared Mezzocchi and Elizabeth Williamson, collectively, for their ingenious direction, multimedia design, and dramaturgy). They’re also both wickedly acted by crackling casts (Off-Broadway stage veteran Mia Katigbak was particularly fierce in Russian Troll Farm), who clearly had a ball letting loose in these zany romps.

FROM HERE TO ETERNITY / BEING SHAKESPEARE
The Shows Must Go On! / West End

Last week, courtesy of The Shows Must Go On! channel on YouTube, I also caught From Here to Eternity and Being Shakespeare (both RECOMMENDED), two West End productions that had eluded my theatergoing during my past trips to London. Having received mixed reports about Tim Rice and Stuart Brayson’s 2013 musical adaptation of From Here to Eternity (after the classic 1953 film of the same name), I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the musical, which is set in a Hawaiian army base during the heated days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor (comparisons to South Pacific are inevitable). Despite some tone issues, the robustly-choreographed musical is punchier than I expected (especially given its source material), and features an eclectic score that’s catchy and frequently emotionally resonant. There are some real standouts from the original cast, notably Robert Londsdale and Ryan Sampson, whose electric performances as two strong-willed soldiers brought heart and soul to the hardworking musical. Then we have Simon Callow’s 2011 Being Shakespeare, which unsurprisingly recounts the life, times, and works of William Shakespeare. Using Jacques’ “seven stages of man” soliloquy from As You Like It as a framing device, Mr. Callow’s theatrical biography neatly and effectively weaves together informative history lesson, thoughtfully curated Shakespearean text, and his own authoritative and enthusiastic sense of theatricality to produce a rich love letter to the Bard and his long lasting legacy.