photo: T. Charles EricksonI read a biography of Grace Slick which quoted her as saying that she took so quickly to Alcoholics Anonymous because the group meetings were such "good theatre." I'm sure that good theatre could be made of the alchemy of identification that happens between people sharing intimately and painfully in AA but this one, about the first men to test it out, isn't it. This play aims to blandly instruct and isn't shaped for dramatic impact: it feels like a live presentation of the educational filmstrips you used to be forced to watch in school about how cells divide or how photosynthesis occurs. It's even less entertaining. At least a couple of the actors are good (Patrick Husted gets the chance to dig deep and deliver a wrenching speech near the end of the first act - it's the only reason I stayed for the second) but no one can reasonably be expected to overcome material this dry and pedantic.
Also blogged by: [Aaron]
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