Writing to Reflect: The Big Beg

By Matt |

Saturday, December 5, 2009

In today's society one can be entertained in a plethora of different ways. One could spend hours on the Xbox, killing people around the world, or one could go to Facebook and catch up with old friends, but one dying form of entertainment is a play. During this past October, the Orlando Shakespeare Theater held a play entitled The Big Bang, a musical comedy featuring Jed, played by Philip Nolen, and Boyd, played by T. Robert Pigott. The show took the audience on an adventure through time; portraying the entire history of the universe in a single play. No doubt a daunting task, but Jed and Boyd amusingly leapt through time, exposing only the most important events in history. Overall, The Big Bang was a hilarious show that kept its audience entertained throughout the entire 75 minutes.

After the seats were filled and the lights dimmed, the audience was informed that the current production was to be only snippets from the full “12 hour, $83.5 million” fabrication. In the performers world, the audience was a group of potential investors and it was Jed’s and Boyd’s job to convince us to invest. Throughout the play the actors enlightened, and often amused, the audience by doing that entertainment faux pas: breaking the fourth wall. This technique was commonly employed to provide exposition regarding details that would be present in the final production. At other times, the fourth wall was broken for comedic effect. For example, at one point during the play, Jed opened an umbrella revealing a “YOUR AD HERE” picture. As the audience grasped the irony, the room erupted with laughter. Antics such as these seized the audiences’ attention for fear that they’d miss a phrase, a dance, or a subtle image.

By far the most amusement came from the fluidity of Boyd and Jed throughout the entire spectacle. The first time the audience experienced this quirk was ‘pre-show’ as the two entered and exited the stage at just the precise moment such that both were never on stage at the same time. Another occurrence happened while describing the final production, Jed says, “enter 40 singers who dance.” Followed up by Boyd without a beat missed, “And 40 dancers who sing.” This maneuver kept the attention of everyone as they waited for another duo to happen.

During a scene just before the American Civil War, a phone rang. Jed answered it and informed Boyd that the owners of the apartment they were using as their stage would be home soon. They quickly cleaned up, explaining to the audience what the rest of the show featured. On their way out, Jed and Boyd tossed out fortune cookies and flyers urging the audience to donate. With the disappearances of all actors, and Albert the piano man “clapping off” the final light, they received a standing ovation from the crowd. Personally my cheeks hurt due to the amount of laughter and smiling I had done. Once I got home, I cracked open the fortune cookie, revealing my fortune, “Invest now- Opportunity knocks.”