SERIALS! Pilot Reviews

Tomorrow night, July 7th, Know Theatre of Cincinnati presents the second episodes of their summer theater experiment, SERIALS!

If you missed the pilots on June 23, there will be a brief recap before each episode.

Having seen only the first 15 minutes of the six plays, below are some thoughts on the pilots.

• FLESH DESCENDING – Cooked meat has fallen from the sky. A married couple hate each other and bicker, the wife is having an affair. You get about 7 1/2 minutes on each without alot of forward momentum. Not much too pull you in for the next episode.
• FETUS AND THE GOD – A fetus walks into God’s study…and they talk…alot…about stuff. The script tends to meander with no real setup for the second episode.
• THE LISTENER – A fun tongue-in-cheek concept that fully embraces the serialized concept. Good setup and it even includes a tag for the second episode. I wouldn’t mind seeing the lead have a stronger presence on stage. Given that you seem to be going for updated noir fiction, it might be fun so have some of the modern references in the classic-style narration.
• SATURDAY THE 14TH – Miranda McGee & Nik Pajic make a entertaining couple who decide, independently, to jump off a bridge in deference to Valentine’s Day. The pilot serves as an entertaining setup with some fun physical comedy. Looking forward to seeing what is in store as the couple delay their demise to jointly crash a party.
• THE FUNERAL – Jon Kovach and Tara Williams are totally believable as son and mother in this smart, tightly-written and emotionally true script. Kovach packs alot into just 15 minutes without it feeling too dense or hurried. Definitely intrigued by the big question of the son’s reluctance to attend the funeral being held downstairs.
• MARS VS. THE ATOM – This one I had a hard time getting into. The main storyline with Erin Ward & Paul Kerford Wilson seemed under-rehearsed and uneven. I was totally confused by the costuming of Wilson’s agoraphobic? and entomophobic? character. He was dressed in a bee keeper’s helmet (the seam of which constantly blocked part of his face), oven mitts and poncho, but nothing to cover his exposed legs. So apparently he is only worried about being bit/stung from the waist up? It’s hard to get into a show when the main character is so undefined.