spoiler alert up front:

this was my favorite show of the festival.

it was FUNNY.

the acting was AMAZING.

the crowd was into it, and it was the one i’d pay to see again.

and then maybe a few more times.

THE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION: A NINTH GRADE EUROPEAN HISTORY PROJECT (THERE WILL BE A LIVE DEMONSTRATION)

by grace mcleod

directed by shelley butler

cast:

oona borovicka as sasha

sean allan krill as mark (the dad)

siri howard as caroline (the mom)

matias kruse as tommy

https://www.southcarolinanewplayfestival.org/the-communist-revolution

fun fact:

i actually auditioned for this one.

so i took the adult acting class at the south carolina children’s theatre earlier this year not just for some more behind-the-scenes fodder: but, you know. i wanted to know if i was any good at acting. and my dream since i attended the scnpf for the first time five years ago? i want to be a stage direction reader at the festival.

since they’re all staged readings, without props or costumes, the characters have their scripts in front of them. and then somewhere off to the side is a “stage direction reader” to narrate the bits like “gladys enters to see the room in disarray” or whatever.* things the audience is supposed to imagine since the characters all remain at their podiums and the scenery doesn’t change.

anyway. since i left adult acting class with a monologue to perform for the student showcase, well, i used it in a few auditions for theatres here in greenville. AND signed up to audition for the SCNPF. (and mentioned in my audition i wanted to be a reader, depending on how casting went.)

anyhow: i didn’t get cast. as the mom in this show OR as a reader in any of the readings.

no worries. it was worth the experience. (always is, right?)

and i LOVED seeing how the show evolved even from the few months since i went in to audition to this reading on stage. (i know at least the sides i’d read from/that scene changed! GAH. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it a million times ten times again: i LOVE to see how art evolves. edits and improvements and the communal effort of writing and movie**- and theatre-making in particular.)

so all that to say i COULD have been sasha’s mom caroline in this show. but the part went to siri howard, who has like 400 broadway credits to her name. so the only thing i’m “jealous” of is getting to yell at sean allan krill—the TONY-NOMINATED actor!!—who played mark, the dad. (he was SO charming and enigmatic. if madeleine l’engle were alive today, this is exactly how i picture hugh, her actor husband.)

the other cast highlight was matias kruse, a recent UNC drama grad who played tommy, sasha’s friend who she recruits to, you know, start the communist revolution. (his physicality was incredible and hilarious. he’s twitch-famous, unbenownst to sasha, and the line i wrote down that was apparently so well timed it made me laugh: “just need to recoup from fighting evil.” and i don’t remember if that was about video games or his day at school.) ;)

“dude, i can’t be a communist all by myself.”

so, having learned everything there is to know about communism in her ninth grade history class one day, sasha decides to rebel against everything her venture capitalist dad stands for. so tommy and sasha (played to perfection by actual 16-year old actor oona borovicka) start camping out in her backyard.

“well, obviously i can’t live in this house—that makes me compliant!”

so shelterless (good thing tommy knows how to pop a tent), they can’t come inside for dinner, either. orrrrrr order über eats to the backyard. (unless she uses her friend’s mom’s credit card. just this once. since they’re just getting starting and don’t have any money for the cause.)

most of my notes i managed to scribble in the dark of the greenville theatre auditorium is the word “mark” and underlined. he was amazing. he was funny. and even he broke character once—because this show is THAT FUNNY. (something i didn’t know going into my audition by the way until the directors started laughing. i mean, no character knows if they’re in a comedy or a tragedy while they’re in it, but i was glad as an audience member we ALL got to laugh at this one—and along with the cast, too.) ;)

some of my favorite mark lines included:

“ooooo pesto.”
“to the free market”

(as he raises a champaigne glass to the cold teenagers outside in the yard who are pretending not to be obvious about watching the parents eat a warm meal)

and, in a more serious moment:

“i just need her to know i’m a good person. maybe not a very good person…”

THE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION: A NINTH GRADE EUROPEAN HISTORY PROJECT (THERE WILL BE A LIVE DEMONSTRATION) was just brilliant.

*four actors. one reader. hundreds of audience members. lotsa laughs.*

the script was tight. and a lot more nuanced than i expected. we got into inequality. capitalism. marriage. fatherhood. and taking advantage of crushes. all while still having to go to volleyball practice.

”that’s, like, butter inequality.”

and coming right after (well, five hours after) seeing 12 KINDS OF ICE (that scnpf blog post HERE), it was an interesting to see two authors’ (& actors’, for that matter) takes on dads. one was caring and memory-building. the other, well, was imperfect enough to start a communist revolution.

“the world often makes it easy to do bad things.”

the teenager language was hip-to-the-jive (kidding!! i know that’s not what the youths are saying these days.)

“if my dad doesn’t know what he’s doing, that’s high-key terrifying.”

and of course parents trying to communicate (or reason with) their teenaged children is a tale as old as time.

and kids aren’t the only ones going through it. the income and stability discrepancies. the parental/guardian situations. the nepotism and the opportunities. we explored it all without being preachy. (the best way to send a message is not to preach, but make people laugh perhaps-uncomfortably, right?)

so call me a grace mcleod superfan from here on out.

and if this play is ever fully staged here in greenville, you can betcha i’m gonna show up to auditions again.

the scnpf playbill

*see also the funniest chapter of a book i’ve ever ever read: BETTER NATE THAN EVER by tim federle (the mind behind high school musical: the musical: the series; i swear he’s my pop-culture humor twin). when nate returns for a callback, he performs ALL the ParTS as well as the stage directions in the sides he’s given. i’ve never laughed so hard at a middle grade book or otherwise. :)

**random podcast rec while we’re here (talking about art being made and evolving as it gets created):

WHAT WENT WRONG with lizzie basset and chris winterbauer

(and sometimes THE DRAMA BOOK SHOW! when the mics are good, or when one is listening at home instead of trying to hear in the car, interviews some interesting theatre people live from the drama bookshop in nyc, too.)

IN THE ENVELOPE, by backstage magazine has a few great actor interviews i’ve listened to recently, too.

"where is this coming from?" "karl marx." (or the mind of a 16 year-old)