"Theatre Review: After the Afterglow"
BY DWAYNE STEWARD
The Ohio Newspaper Network, June 2, 2008
The art of breakup was the theme of the day Saturday during “After the Afterglow,” a dramatic double feature presented by the newly minted Raconteur Theatre. Its premiere productions of “Roulette” and “Aster, Holger Gunn” took on hearty interpretations of romantic comedy, sometimes going a little overboard but ultimately offered an extremely relatable theater experience.
Douglass Hill’s “Roulette” was up first, opening with the strewn-about ruins of Janine (Jill Ceneskie) and Matt’s (J.T. Walker) marriage. The uptight, career-oriented Janine leaves the hippie-influenced, wayward Matt. But on a finale ride to Vegas, she finds — through literal divine intervention — that love is worth the gamble.
Seeming to take its cue from “Stranger Than Fiction,” starring Will Ferrell and Dustin Hoffman, the play contained a magical element in the form of reappearing lost possessions, apparently signaling for the couple to stay together.
Ceneskie and Walker’s chemistry was pretty unfailing during their heated spats, but something didn’t quite mesh well when the two decided to connect. Their intimate moments seemed distant, barely touching while Janine was making her last appeal for Matt to come back to her.
However, each shined in their own right, especially Walker who always appeared to be on the verge of tears. His cry to the heavens after things took a turn for the paranormal was slightly overacted but ultimately became his strongest moment of the night.
Ceneskie also pulled her weight as the over-controlling Janine. Her comedic timing was pretty outstanding as she kept the story alive with her many zinging one-liners.
The post-modern “Aster, Holger Gunn” by Raconteur’s Justin Toomey took a turn for the abnormal as it followed Holger Gunn (Andrew Cronacher) in his quest for closure after a drastic breakup with Aster (Molly St. Cyr).
Though in the same vein as the cult classic “High Fidelity,” starring John Cusack — including over-inflated vocabulary and all — the play took place within Holger’s mind as the screenwriter wrote through his problems, employing his imagined version of Aster to guide him through the brainstorm.
Cronacher and St. Cyr definitely had chemistry, but the play’s intense latent content may have muddled the meaning a bit. The pair’s best moment came at the play’s end during a last dance/kiss before Holger finally found his closure.
The play also included a short appearance by “Duck,” played by Sam Blythe. His quick entrance/exit was supposed to be some sort of nod to literary “chance,” but offered a few seconds of comedic fodder and not much more.
Though I may have still been on a high from the love story in “Sex and the City: The Movie,” I thought Raconteur’s first showing was more than adequate, packing the small back room theater at Kafe Kerouac in Columbus. The show continues every weekend through June 14. For more information, visit raconteurtheatre.com
Go to Dwanye Steward's "Columbus After 5 blog"
