The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand is a terribly silly telling of the events leading up to the assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand. You may ask how can they make light of an event like the assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand? I believe I can answer that question with one word “distance and time”. The event happened in 1914 and you don’t have to be a mathematical genius to realize anyone around at the time would be well into their 70’s or 80’s by now. Well past the age anyone goes to the Bryant Lake Bowl & theater. So the odds of someone showing up to a performance of The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand to stroll down memory lane only to discover they’ve actually wandered into a live performance of The Bullwinkle Show, are slim to none. Anyone who is familiar with The Bullwinkle Show will understand the tone of The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand, the only thing missing are Moose and Squirrel. This production of The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand is being mounted by a relatively new theater company Jackdonkey Productions, this was my first run in with them, I had a lot of fun with the show, but my watch is missing.
The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand is a play by Joey Hamburger, no relation. Rather than a plot synopsis of The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand, because frankly I’m not sure I could even do that, I’ll try and give you a sense of what to expect when you go see The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand. You will see 12 actors, if you’ve ever been to a show at Bryant Lake Bowl & Theater before, that alone will perk up your ears, it’s not a large space. To clarify, I mean in the theater, there would be gobs of space if they performed it in the bowling alley. But they don’t, because of the balls. Those 12 actors play over 30 different characters. The play begins seconds before the moment the play ends with, though in between those two bookending moments, we go before and after that moment in time. The show runs 90 minutes with no intermission and is broken up into 24 individual scenes. Don’t worry, in the program for The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand there is a rundown of the scenes with the location and date when it takes place. If you forgot your reading glasses, again don’t worry, there is a narrator played by Kat Haugan who appears from the initial establishment of their character to be anachronistically on TV, which is fine, it’s that sort of play. Now, I don’t think there is anything else to worry about, there are guns in the show, but they’re of the cartoon variety. Now I’m a little worried that you may be of too nervous a disposition to be going out of your house, you seem to need a lot of reassurance. I promise the worst thing that The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand will do to you is possibly shatter your funny bone. IT WONT!! It’s a figure of speech, or if it isn’t, it should be. You will not shatter your funny bone, please don’t be afraid of that. Maybe you have some like Lorazepam or something you can take, just to get to the theater? Once there you’ll be fine, they have those THC Seltzers and like the Live Cafe Wine and Beer!
The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand. Is quite The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand. But you’ll want to be careful that your The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand doesn’t dig into your leg.
Of course to make a show like this work you need firstly a script that lends itself to absurdism, surrealism, experimentalism and/or one of the seven other major isms. But what truly makes a show like this take off or sink is the Director finding the correct tone and Actors who are willing to go big and silly while still staying in character. Zach Christensen assures us from the opening voice over that he understands how to set the tone and proves over the next 90 minutes that he can maintain it. I’m fairly certain Christensen hired a Toon to do the opening voice over, that runs with a short video credit sequence after a cold open that ends, just as the shot heard round the world is about to occur. From there, it’s the attention to details that maintain that absurdist feel. You can’t have 12 actors just being wild and crazy, the madness needs to be deliberate. And in Christensen’s hands it is. Every movement of the stools as scenes are set, every exit and indeed entrance taken by an actor, every sound cue are all perfectly planned to create a sense of a play called The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand performed by the Warner brothers, and of course the Warner sister, Dot. This is one of those shows where you have to give a shout out to the Stage Manager in this case, Frankie Miller, who supervises 24 scene changes in 90 minutes. It has to be flawless, otherwise you risk losing the momentum, Miller made sure it was.
The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand is one of those shows that have the kind of playbill I hate, no pictures and no cast bios. The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand is filled with actors I know I’ve seen before, but in most cases I can’t remember where. There are too many in the cast to discuss them all but a few of the ones that really caught my eye need to get singled out. Playing The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand who gets assassinated is Amanda Espinoza, probably the most grounded performance in the piece but if any character is going to have even a touch of reality in a play called The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand it should probably be The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand right? Going to the other extreme was the wildly winning and possibly animated Caiti Fallon, who played among other roles that of Mailboynewsboy. I know I have seen her before in something, it may have been a Disney or Pixar film. Comic gold everytime Fallon opened her mouth but it was also the way she physically attacked each different character. From the tips of her ears to her toes with every role she was all in, she’s one to watch. Changed my mind, Cate Jackson as Sophie was the most grounded, She’s The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand’s wife. Jackson almost plays her like a patient and wise Jane Austen character, not Elizabeth Bennet, no, but Jane Bennet, she’s totally Jane Bennet! Which works, out of the blue there is this little relationship that’s actually just sweet. The rest of the cast of The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand is excellent as well.
All seriousness aside I found the show enormously entertaining, it’s a funny script that is only enhanced by strong direction and fantastic and playful cast. The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand is playing at Bryant Lake Bowl & theater under the title The Assassination of The Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand. For more information about the show and to purchase tickets as well as checkout the menu go to https://www.bryantlakebowl.com/theater/the-assassination-of-the-archduke-of-austria-hungary-franz-ferdinand
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