INFECT YOURSELF TONIGHT

I'm trying to get my shit together to write a proper review that gets at my feelings about Infectious Opportunity, the new show presented by my longtime cohorts Nosedive Productions, and hopefully will in a day or so.

For this morning, suffice it to say that Infectious Opportunity by James Comtois, directed by Pete Boivert, put together by the Nosedive team of Marc Landers, Becky Comtois, Stephanie Williams, Ben Vandenboom, and Patrick Charles Philucifer Willis Shearer (with special guests Ian W. Hill and Itai Sol), starring (in addition to Becky) David Ian Lee, Andrea Marie Smith, DR Hanson, Daryl Lathon, Ronica Reddick, and Matthew Trumbull is a masterful piece of theater at every level - great script, great direction, great production, great performances.

My previous favorite Nosedive show was 2005's Dying Goldfish, but this one surpassed it. I know I'm in the minority on Goldfish, but I'm not gonna be in the minority on this one. You could feel this one clicking with everyone in the room. This is a hit. The early rep on this show was that it was the most fucked up shit James has ever come up with, but that part kinda got out of the way early for me, and it quickly became the most heart-wrenching script he's written. In writing this character who is entirely despicable at the conceptual level, James has created for me his most sympathetic protagonist.

Anyone in the arts knows how easily they could turn into Wes Farley, how easy it is to value the general approval and admiration of others over a specific connection with any one person, how easy it is to say whatever thing will impress people in any given moment, and how easy it is to project a sense of authenticity rather than act authentically because the former gets the same response with much less effort. This isn't specific to the arts, but it's prevalent there. This play is being sold as a dark comedy about an awful guy pulling an awful scam - and can certainly be experienced that way - but it's actually a tragedy about what happens when the desire to be thought of well supersedes all other motivations - what kind of person that turns you into, and what kind of life it leaves you with.

Anyway, I can feel as I'm writing that I don't have my thoughts together. My point is, don't wait for the last two shows - clear your schedule and see it tonight. We'll talk some more later.

--SlowLearner

Comments

[Stephanie]

You're awesome. Thank you. You hit some of my thoughts on the head.

[James]

Awesome. Thanks, Mac!