Late night shows at The Empty Space generally leave audiences laughing and sometimes feeling a little naughty. Those who saw the most recent late night show, “Project: Turkey Day,” may not have left in such a good mood.
“Project: Turkey Day” was directed by Bakersfield College communication professor Helen Acosta. Acosta, along with Greg Goodsell, Lorenzo Dunning and husband Enrique Acosta, wrote a series of one acts centered around Thanksgiving. The scenes go in chronological order from the frantic early morning cooking all the way to shoppers waiting in line for the newest games. The scene “17 Thanksgivings Ago” was especially well written. Acosta had written the poem for her husband and had actor Jose Hernandez direct the scene.
While the writing for the show was fine, the performances weren’t exactly stellar. It’s hard to get into a scene when you can’t hear many of the lines. Most of Act 1 seemed to drag along. Interaction between some side characters was good, but overall much of the acting was not believable.
Part of this has to be attributed to what seems to be a lack of commitment. Actor Julia Foreman looked as if she didn’t even want to be on the stage at some points. Even though she seemed to know her lines, her character work seemed lacking.
The use of the set did help the show. Many of the scenes made great use of all set pieces. However, there was a mimed door that seemed to open any way you wanted it to.
There were two scenes that did impress me. “Thanksgiving in Rehab” by Lorenzo Dunning shows a group of addicts in rehabilitation celebrating Thanksgiving. Actors Jared Cantrell and Julianna Paz were quite believable and really got into their roles.
The other scene that brought a smile to my face was “Black Friday” by Greg Goodsell. Watching people camping out at a Target or Wal-Mart is fun enough as it is. Enrique Acosta shined in this scene trying to skip the line altogether and get the newest game. He tries to pawn off a toy that talks to you but only once it gets to know you.
A solid script needs a solid cast to perform it. Sadly, that just didn’t happen for this show. While Thanksgiving dinner left a great taste in my mouth, “Project: Turkey Day” did not.