In Dark Ride, a play written by Len Jenkins,
you can’t analyze too much, but have to just sit back and enjoy this fast
talking mind boggling ride. At the late
night showing on Sunday April 1st at the University Theatre featured
an eleven-person cast that took on this tightly written and densely packed
script of astounding metaphors. Myself
and around twenty other university students filled the rows of the dark cellar
to support their friends or aspiring classmates. The cast left the fancy costumes at home, and
with nothing more than pure ambition and fine tuned skill they bore it all for
their role. Scott Higgs masterfully
directed this talented cast as he utilized the simple stage using actor and
electronic images as the primary media forms.
This play is a series
of absurdist vignettes loosely tied to a quest hoping to expose the curse
historically associated with the famous Hope Diamond. Those who possessed the diamond were said to
have suffered cataclysmic losses of family and fortune. The characters that make up the Dark Ride are
pensive, unexpected and romantic. The
eccentric lines and mannerisms of the characters nicely offset each other to
give a cohesive play of fine talent. At
one point in the play each character had their chance to show their skill of
handling complex monologues while more importantly conveying the eccentric
beliefs and attitudes of their character. The script often left me puzzled, but
the energy and passion from the cast kept me tuned in throughout the two-hour
play. After a long and busy weekend my brain and
analytical skills weren’t the sharpest, so I focused on the believability of
the actors and fluidity of the performance overall-- which far exceeded my expectations.
Len Jenkin is the
author of Dark Ride. He is also the author of The Incredible Hulk a television series that ran from 1978 to
1983. In one of the episodes titled
“Sideshow” we see the Hulk’s journey seeking answers, something that took
nearly two and half seasons for him to find.
Despite being written four years earlier, Dark Ride echoes themes that Jenkin first explored in his Hulk
teleplay. There exists a circular
spiritual journey that takes the audience on a ride as the characters seek resolution.
I
was absolutely shocked at the skill level of the University Theatre crew. I’m no veteran play attender having been to
only a few improv skits put on by the University group “SharkWing.” I didn’t
expect to see such veteran performances from kids my age. But to my surprise, the characters flawlessly
spit out hundreds of words at a time never stopping to check their lines or
even to stutter. The fast talking
wittiness kept me at the edge of my chair as I did my best to keep up to speed
on this interesting and one of a kind “dark ride.”
The
next UGA department of theatre and film production is the world-famous,
award-wining musical Chicago premiering today April 12th with
multiple shows until April 22nd at the Fine Arts Theatre.
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