By Larisa Hicken
Incompleat Works is an original play written by local playwright, Dennis Agle, Jr. It is being featured as part of The Echo Theatre’s Writers Showcase in Provo, Utah.
The show tells the story of several Shakespearean characters trapped in a “Groundhog Day” type existence – doomed to repeat the first act of the show forever – due to the fact that Shakespeare never finished their script. Eventually the characters set off on an adventure to find their creator and discover the ending of their stories.
The script is quite clever and Shakespeare fans will delight in the many references to Shakespeare’s famous lines and beloved characters. Although many of the phrases and words are reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Early Modern English, the script is written in a more natural and modern speech pattern and audience members should have no problem understanding the dialogue.
Dialect coach, Jason Sullivan, can be proud of his work on this production. The actors all did an excellent job overall with their diction and various accents, but the best accents came from Sean Hunter. He showed a lot of versatility as an actor, playing eight different characters throughout the night.
Jessie Lynn Pursey also played multiple roles and gave a solid performance as each character. Stephen Gashler played the lead role of Geoffrey and I enjoyed his sincerity and passion. He had a great look which was aided by costumer Isabelle Anderson. There was also a nice connection with his romantic interest, Gillian, played by Hannah Scharman.
Jake Robertson provided most of the comedy as the Earl of Bedford and his timing and facial expressions were terrific. In spite of being the comedic relief, he still managed to deliver many of the most meaningful lines of the night with just the right amount intensity. Hailey Nebeker was another stand-out performer in the role of Celia. Her character was well-developed and believable and she really kept the play moving forward with her high-energy performance.
Nick Estrada as Rowland and Kyle Baugh as Valet also gave genuine, natural performances that helped the audience focus on the deeper meaning of the lines they delivered. Sophie Agle was adorable as Eliza. She has a sweet voice and seemed quite comfortable on stage for someone so young.
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There were a few technical problems with the show, mainly in blocking and pacing. The script presents a challenge with several scenes where the actors are on a journey – meaning they are actually walking around. In a small theater, this is obviously tricky. The director (playwright Dennis Agle, Jr.) chose to use the audience space for many of these walking scenes, which meant that a lot of the time I simply couldn’t see the actors over the other audience members or because there was no lighting on the actors.
The short scenes which take place in a variety of locations meant frequent blackouts for scene changes and it created a problem for the pacing of the show, giving it a choppy feeling which pulled me out of the world of the show and I struggled to get back into it every time the lights came back up.
I suspect that the director and stage crew were well aware of these challenges and attempted to shorten scene change time by keeping the set very uncomplicated and using a special “box” which was used in inventive ways to transform the scenes. I really enjoyed seeing how they managed to pull off so many different effects with one simple box. However, I would’ve liked to see the actual stage and set used to create visually interesting levels and locations.
Since this was part of a writer’s showcase, I found myself focused quite intensely on the actual script over the production aspects of the show. Religious themes run deep which will certainly appeal to local audiences. There were several moments where the playwright spoke right to my heart and I gained powerful insights into my own life journey. After all, “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts…”
I’m anxious to see more from playwright, Dennis Agle, Jr. This is a delightful new script with a lot of potential and I would sincerely like to see it developed even further. I applaud The Echo for supporting original work by local artists. If you’re a fan of Shakespeare, you’ll appreciate seeing the Incompleat Works.
Show Dates: June 13,16,19,20,22,25, and 27 at 7:30pm
Tickets: $8-12
Location: Echo Theatre, 15 N 100 E, Provo Utah
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