“Water by the Spoonful” written by Quiara Alegria Hudes, was performed at LMC in the Little Theatre.
The show overall was good, and there were several moments that I enjoyed. However, there were also times throughout the play when it seemed to fall flat or come off rushed when it could have been built into something more.
Fountainhead’s introduction, for example, was almost flawless. Ruslan Valiullin was charismatic and funny and made me want Fountainhead to win. My favorite scenes were when he would approach the stage. However, the climax of Fountainhead’s story was rushed, and I barely caught what happened. That moment could have been a heartbreaking moment, truly his rock bottom, but the raw emotion felt rushed as Fountainhead ran offstage.
I was very impressed with how the show handled the chatroom scenes. Achieving a believable and funny scene on stage imitating a through-the-screen interaction was an accomplishment.
Chutes & Ladders was an awesome villain in these scenes, and Carswell Ouimet did an excellent job of being the jaded nihilist. A scene where they really shined was the Fountainhead introduction.
There were several other moments like this throughout the play. The cast was excellent at building the tension of a scene. When it came to keeping the right momentum, however, sometimes the show fell flat.
Samaria Turner and Aqeel Andreas had excellent chemistry as cousins and it was fun to watch them, especially during lighthearted moments.
During heavy moments though, sometimes important moments were blown through, and the impact of what was just said never registered. This happened only a few times but when it did I was jarred.
Lighting was executed well, with a variation of moods and framing that suited the set fixtures. The set was very well done, and I liked the minimalist style, but some things felt out of place. The bathtub for instance was onstage throughout the show but was only used once for a short scene. As a whole though, the production made excellent use of the thrust theater, and with such a small stage the cast was able to make very good use of their resources.
Overall the show was compelling and some moments were truly amazing. Some moments had excellent tension and momentum while a few felt awkward and rushed. But even so, I left the show smiling and was happy with what I saw.
Moments did move me and I did feel raw human emotion. I liked the show, and am looking forward to what LMC drama will do next.
