TheatrGROUP's Frostbite

Well, you know, the whole point behind method acting, so I understand, is to make the action really believable. Believable, you know? Like the action is really happening, right there, seems that way, because the actors are really feeling inside what's happening on stage? And when I went to see Frostbite, the new show by TheatrGROUP, I didn't have time to read the program first, so I wasn't expecting anything and you know what? I spent the first ten minutes thinking "This is so different. It looks so... real. Who wrote this?"

Well, of course, it turns out the actors themselves wrote it, or wrote their parts at least, as part of a workshop run by Harry Governick. And I gotta say, if this production is any measure, this company has potential. Potential, listen to me, I don't wanna sound stuffy, but what I mean is that this works. Sure, it comes off a little like, what is that show on MTV, with all the kids in NYC, or maybe ER, all this background action and small talk. Or a Woody Allen movie, one of those where Alan Alda is talking his head off. It's got Alda's politics, too, a little to the left, swimming upstream in this decade, but whatever. Real World, that's it, it's a bit like Real World, with some of those trippy drug scenes from Hawaii Five-0 thrown in for good measure.

So basically, the story is that it's Christmas, 1969; Tom Wickwire is back from 'Nam in a wheelchair with his wife and a Marine buddy to look after him. Pat, his brother the war protester (just out of prison) blows into town with his new wife on a surprise visit. This would make for a perfect Christmas reunion scene, 'cept for that their mother froze to death two Yules ago when the Gas company shut her off for non-payment. Much drinking ensues, they hatch a couple of plans for the gas company and execute one, and finally their little sister trips her way in in true Haight-Ashbury zombie fashion, friend in tow, to complete the picture.

There are so many great reasons for tension on stage; race, politics, death, and general wierdness, and the booze looks like the fuse. All the Stanislavski stuff keeps all the dialog in natural cadences, full of mundane chit-chat, pauses, interruptions, and multiple conversations, which gave me the errie feeling of spying on a real gathering, although it was no easier to follow than it would be in real life. In addition, all the anger and rage seemed barely contained, simmering just below the surface, cookin' real good, just waiting to boil over. Even a peaceful Christmas dinner seemed fraught with danger. Yep, just like home.

So I liked it, and even my wife, who wasn't real big on the story, thought the actors were great. Most of it worked, small parts didn't, but, you know, it's part improv, so you get a slightly different version each night. It'll be even more interesting to see what these kids do when they focus all that energy and attention on something that happened sometime in their own lifetime. This is a dynamite group with great coaching, and it looks like they have plenty to say and a zest for saying it.

When you do go, try to get there twenty minutes early; I didn't, but it turns out the cast goes on-stage for character warm-ups, which should be worth seeing. Plus, that will give you a chance to get right down front. We sat about ten rows back, and had to move up at intermission, because the riser angle is too shallow. But, like I said, the action is worth craning your neck.