SOME KIND OF BEAUTIFUL // A THEATRE REVIEW OF "JANE THE PLAIN"
When people think of the old saying, “War is Hell,” they think of helicopters, fighting overseas, and support our troops bumper stickers. They may think of the movie “Apocalypse Now” or dozens of other movies depicting that very statement. However, many of us have very different images spring to mind. Lockers, football fields, wedgies, Homecoming Kings and Queens, and selfies, aka the number one cause of destruction in America’s youth (That’s a fact, I’m pretty sure). For those at Plainview High School, War is Hell definitely springs to mind the high school images, and we relive all of them alongside August Schulenburg, fellow students, and JANE THE PLAIN.
Alisha Spielmann stars as the title character Jane. We are told, through monologues aimed directly at the audience, that she is not above average, but not below average. She is somewhere in between, which is far worse. She’s plain, unnoticed, like “something you fly in to arrive someplace better.” We’re also introduced to the other types traditionally found in high school. There’s football star and uber-popular Scotty the Hotty (Chinaza Uche), head devious Cheerleader Betty the Pretty (Becky Byers), the unattainable hottie Lexi the Sexy (Sol Crespo), the 2nd string Quarterback Lesson the Decent (Chester Poon), and finally there’s Leonard the Awkward (Isaiah Tanenbaum), the "Magic: The Gathering" playing outcast who is in love with Jane the Plain, though she doesn’t see him in that light. Jane is obsessed with Scotty. Scotty has the hots for Lexi. And Betty is willing to do anything to get Scotty. It’s all typical high school craziness, including a bad decision nude selfie, until Jane saves a girl who’s about to get hit by a car. This is where things start getting very strange indeed. The girl glows, literally, with gratitude, and the next thing Jane knows is everyone finally sees her. Everyone is entranced by her. She is no longer plain, for better….or for worse.
August Schulenburg (Honey Fist, Riding the Bull) certainly knows his way around a whip-smart sentence, and Jane the Plain is full of exquisite dialogue. Schulenburg continuingly paints beautiful pictures with his words, much of it pure poetry, and under the delicate directing guidance of Kelly O’Donnell, they elevate it immediately from your typical night in the theatre. As Jane, Alisha Spielmann commands your attention, not with a roar, but with a fire of intensity building inside her. She is soft and sweet, naïve and hurt, and Spielmann’s performance is touching and powerful. Becky Byers nails every scene as the scheming and manipulative cheerleader, but never paints her as a true villain. She’s an angry teenager, desperate to not repeat her parent’s mistakes, and Byers showcases all the hurt inside of her venom beautifully all the way up to a very heartbreaking end. And although she doesn’t say much in the first half of the show, a single look from Sol Crespo or a wry line reading will send you into hysterics. I also want to point out the amazing scenic design by Will Lowry. Both low-fi and wonderfully clever, he set up a stage that’s somehow several high school memories all blended together.
With all of the wonderful things happening here, there are things that don’t work in Jane the Plain. With so much to say, and so little time to say it, the ending sadly falls apart, and some of what it's trying to say does as well. One device that I really liked early on, the narration, is used far too much. Nearly every moment of the show is narrated by one of the characters, and though it can be a clever device, it simply wears thin and gets in the way of true character development. It often doesn't allow the audience to discover what a character is feeling and yearning for but rather simply tells us. Had the play only started and ended with narration and used it sporadically in the rest of the play (if at all) I wonder how much more powerful the end result would have been. That being said, Jane the Plain is a very clever piece of theatre, one that you really shouldn’t miss. You just might get detention if you do.
MATEO'S GRADE: B
DIRECTED BY: Kelly O'Donnell WRITTEN BY: August Schulenburg STARRING: Alisha Spielmann, Becky Byers, Chinaza Uche, Sol Crespo, Chester Poon, Isaiah Tenenbaum CONTENT ADVISORY: Language, Sexuality PHOTO CREDIT: Deborah Alexander
BOTTOM LINE: Poetic in its language and wholly original in concept, Jane the Plain shines best in the first hour, with many strong performances anchoring each moment. Though it's not the best Flux show you'll see (or quite up to par as their last couple offerings), it is a fine addition to an extremely talented company.