By Louise
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQiIxhaPduc
Available until: ‘Throughout September’
I think Zoom really suits this play well. As the main
characters are sitting in their office, it makes sense for them to be sitting
down nearly all the time. There is a lot under the surface in this play and
because we can see the characters’ faces very well, they can show a lot in
their faces which not everyone would be able to see in a big theatre. I’m
really glad the director Fira Budiman didn’t make the characters stand up and
get things all the time. I think the stillness is really important in this
play.
Crystal and Dustin have been working together for six years. Dustin has mental health problems and Crystal has always been kind. Also in the office is Julia, who seems to be their boss. She has a lot to do and she seems quite stressed. Then there is Emma, who has a more junior role and gets things wrong sometimes, but she is really positive and sweet.
The play is written by Timothy McNeil and it is just over
twenty minutes long. Crystal and Dustin talk as they work. Some of what they
say seems unimportant, but you can see the deep friendship underneath it and
that is really lovely. But they also trust each other enough to talk about the
more serious things in their life. It seems like they know each other very well…
but there are things Dustin hasn’t told Crystal. Very important things.
I think the writing is clever because the characters don’t
always say exactly what they’re thinking, but we still know what they’re thinking.
I also think it’s quite good that the play isn’t just about mental health.
There are days when mental health problems can be overwhelming, but there is
more to a person than their mental health problems. They can still be
intelligent and kind and lots of other things and Crystal and Dustin shows
that.
In the discussion after the play, Timothy McNeil says that
quiet moments can change people’s lives. I have never thought about that
before, but I think he’s right. The things that change people’s lives aren’t
always the dramatic moments.
A lot of the stage directions were narrated by Paul Guzman.
He reads them very well and very clearly, but maybe there were a few stage
directions which don’t need to be read because we can get enough of an idea of
what’s happening from watching the actors. But that is a very tiny problem and
I might easily be wrong.
The actors were all really good. Maia Nikiphoroff is a
really lovely Crystal and when Dustin reveals what Crystal did for him, it’s
not exactly a surprise because that’s so obviously the sort of thing she would
do.
Carlo Figlio is really nice too as Dustin and I really liked
the way he expressed emotions with his eyes. You can really see from his eyes
sometimes that he has mental health problems and that is really sad, but it’s
right for the story.
Michele Tannen as Julia is kind of rushed and stressed and
always in a hurry and Hedy Nasser as Emma maybe isn’t always tactful, but they
both seem like nice people and the fact they aren’t perfect makes them easy to
identify with. They were both funny too. Not laugh out funny, but the kind of
funny that makes you smile.
I really like that Timothy McNeil has made all his
characters nice people. They make mistakes and say things that could be
misinterpreted, but none of them actually want to hurt anyone. A lot of people
think that in order to make a story interesting, you need big dramas and that
they are created by people being horrible to each other. I don’t agree with
that and Crystal and Dustin proves it is possible to write a good play
where nobody is horrible.
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