Picture Imperfect: Snapshots
Picture Imperfect: Snapshots
reviewed by David Noble Dandridge
Presented by St. Louis Actors Studio
Being an optimist, I’m always intrigued by St. Louis playwrights or theater companies producing new and original work. I was even more optimistic that St. Louis Actors’ Studio’s season ending original production would be directed by its artistic director, Milton Zoth, whom along with Deanna Jent I would call one of the most consistently solid directors in town.
However, shortly after receiving my program, I started seeing the tell tale signs that an original play may not be up to snuff. There was no playwright credited. The cast members had no character names next to theirs. Even the play’s title, “Snapshots” seemed to telegraph the random series of unconnected vignettes with no narrative through-line that would follow. Not that such a play cannot work, but if the scenes cannot add up to more than the sum of their parts, then at least all or some of them should be good enough to stand on their own. But this is not the case.
Some would argue that “Snapshots” does indeed have a narrative structure. The play takes us though the stages of human life, starting with birth and ending with death. Along the way, there are scenes concerning adolescence, teen dating, adult dating, marriage, divorce and old age. The stripped down, dialogue heavy format (there’s almost no set, and no costume or scene changes) provides a good showcase for its appealing and rather game cast, including Syd Andrews, Cindy Duggan, Roger Erb and Tyler Vickers; but of the cast, only Anna Blair seems comfortable playing any character of any age significantly younger or older than herself. Her on-stage transformations into a smart-mouthed teenager and an elderly woman in a nursing home are so impressive; they deserve a better play to be a part of.
“Snapshots,” the program informs us, is the result of months of improvisation and storytelling workshops conducted with a who’s who of St. Louis actors, writers and directors (the list is 45 names long). Perhaps it was a case of too many cooks, or that the amount of time involved contributed to the play’s lack of focus. The most serious flaw in “Snapshots” is that it seems to strive for the generic. It’s as if the artists involved feared that giving any character a specific trait or any scene a fresh observation might undermine the sense that the trials and tribulations of human life are universal. Midway through the piece there is a scene in which a young married couple has an argument. The husband is trying to watch the game, but the wife is upset that he forgotten to make dinner. An argument about the wife’s nagging and the husband’s forgetfulness ensues. At this point I’m thinking, “Did I really have to leave home for this?”
A few weeks ago I attended “27/ 7” a theater festival in which teams of actors, writers and directors have 24 hours to cast, write, rehearse and perform a series of short plays. I would say that at least half of the resulting pieces, all created in 24 hours, were more interesting than anything in “Snapshots.”
“Snapshots” continues through June 22 at the Gaslight Theater. For more information: www.stlas.org.
David Noble Dandridge can be reached at: radiclwraith-theatre@yahoo.com
