Kat McCann

Rob Vaughn

THRT 185

4/23/19

Crossing Mnisose Reflection

When visiting Portland Center Stage and seeing Crossing Mnisose, a few things stuck out

to me during out tour and performance: the stage, the opportunities, and the quality of the

performances. There was more, but these three things were the most prominent, for a variety for

reasons.

I will first begin with the stage, or rather, the scene design. The play, as you remember,

took play as the edge of a river, as well as a few other locations. The main stage, the river bed,

was phenomenal. The staging was beautiful, the detail incredible, and the overall execution was

impressive. The pieces brought out for modern day, such as the bar and table, were lacking a bit,

especially after Liam had hyped them up to be these incredibly realistic looking pieces. For all of

the beauty of these pieces though, I can’t help but be disappointed. The stage is the only thing I

feel is worth mentioning. It overshadowed the actors. When it comes to theatre, the last thing you

want to do with your design is make it so it takes from the actors and the plot of the show, and

that’s exactly what happened with this show. I don’t care that the man was a Tony award winner,

he should not have made a set that was going to be the only thing worth talking about.

Next up in the order of things we learned/saw: the opportunities. When I learned about

the apprenticeship opportunities, I admit that I got very excited. I think that it’s incredible that

such a large theatre has this opportunity for recently graduated college students, and the fact that

they’re design and stage management internships is incredible, because I know so many people
that feel like the only areas that get focus are acting and directing. I know for a fact that I’m

going to look into applying there and I hope I get the chance to work at a place held in such high

renown in the Pacific Northwest.

Lastly, the acting. There is no kind way to say this: it sucks. The acting of the play was

sub par over all, and I’m very disappointed. I’ve heard very good things about this theatre and

know that this is not usual for this theatre, but it was not a good first experience. The actors

stumbled in a few places, they never really sold their lines and felt very flat, and (this may have

been a script thing) they just didn’t have great lines or moments. Everything upstages the acting,

from the set to the sound, which also wasn’t great but it was more memorable.

Crossing Mnisose had the potential to be a great show, but felt slight flat, which is

disappointing from a space that has so much to offer and made something so incredible. Despite

the disappointment, I have grown to love Portland Center Stage and look forward to seeing more

shows in the future.