The Rice Thresher

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March 23, 2007 > Arts & Entertainment > Sets impress, acting disappoints in Will Rice’s Orange Lemon

Sets impress, acting disappoints in Will Rice’s Orange Lemon

By Tasha Chemplavil | Thresher Editorial Staff

The cast of Will Rice Players’ Orange Lemon Egg Canary tries hard to keep viewers interested in its magic-centric play. But a mediocre script and inexperienced actors may make audiences disappear.

In Orange Lemon, magician Great (Wiess College freshman Dhruv Venkatraman) finds love in diner waitress Trilby (Wiess freshman Sarah Cook). The eager Trilby wants to learn everything she can about her new beau — including his magic tricks. There is one act in particular Trilby wants to perform. Inherited from his grandfather, the Hypnotic Balance is Great’s best trick: A woman hovers in mid-air supported only by the sharp point of a sword.

Sprinkled between the couple’s courting are monologues from the mysterious Henrietta (Will Rice College sophomore Margeux Clemmons). These monologues, more confusing than illuminating, start the show on the wrong foot. Alternating between Great’s story and Henrietta’s soliloquies creates a disjointed timeline that does not get explained until long after viewers stop caring.

The acting in Orange Lemon is part of the reason why viewers stop caring. The actors try, but they try too hard, getting corny when they want compelling.

Venkatraman’s facial expressions rarely change, making his delivery stilted and unconvincing. His romantic chemistry with Cook is nonexistent: Both are visibly uncomfortable when they have to lock lips. And while Cook could use more variety in her inflections — her amused tone is the same as her seductive one — at least she elicits a few audience laughs to break up the monotony.

Hanszen College sophomore Brittanie Jenkins as Great’s ex-girlfriend Egypt is the most believable cast member with her casual delivery of lines, but she slips out of character when technical difficulties occur. At one point in the show, Great quotes his grandfather saying, “Practice makes genius.” Unfortunately, Orange Lemon’s cast didn’t practice enough to earn it an above-average IQ. Clemmons speaks with an affected accent that shows a desire to act well. Unfortunately, it reeks of a failure to do so. She begins one scene with the question, “Would you like to shoot a bullet at me?” My answer was, “Yes. Desperately.”

Not all the blame falls on the actors, however — not even a seasoned cast could salvage the incoherence of the play’s script. The mysterious woman in white is not identified until considerably late in the show, leaving the audience to wonder about the relevance of her character. A fatally wounded woman not only stands up after the blow is struck — she actually walks away. Characters switch sexualities faster than Britney Spears changes haircuts. It’s hard to turn dirt into gold.

Although the production’s audio needs work, its visuals are praiseworthy: Orange Lemon’s ace up the sleeve is its set design. Simple but effective, props are traded in and out to create rather convincing spaces. A couch atop a clothes-strewn floor serves as Great’s apartment and a checkered tablecloth next to a black-and-red counter — complete with barstools — make for an impressive diner. Props such as the sword used for the Hypnotic Balance look like they could be part of a professional production. Artistic director Katelyn Willis, a Will Rice sophomore, proves that sets do not have to be extensive or expensive to be believable. A little ingenuity goes a long way.

Convincing art direction elevates the show’s aesthetic to almost-professional, but it’s not enough to keep audiences entertained. Bad script, bad acting and bad audio make Orange Lemon Egg Canary a hat trick of disappointments.

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