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shannon_aKimberly and I went to see By and By today, the newest play at the Shotgun Players. It's the last Wednesday that it's showing, so this was our last chance to see it; we put it off until the end because Kimberly's recent health problems have made theatre challenging. Fortunately, she managed to watch the play tonight!
It's a play about cloning, specifically about a father cloning a daughter from his dead wife's DNA. There's some exploration of the ethics of that, and some discussion of how it's worked out. The playwright also offers up a really strong statement that even with cloning we'll be creating new people, not recreating old people ... but that's all just the background of the play.
The show is really about love, about letting go of the past and grabbing the future, about letting old love die so that new love can find a place. And it was interesting and thoughtful theming.
Parts of the play were slightly experimental, and though I often find that *crap*, it was well done here. In particular there were a few criss-crossing conversations, happening at different times in the chronology, but intercutting on the stage. They came across quite well.
There was also good humor and great acting, particularly on the part of the daughter, who also played her dead mother/clone. She was just amazing in how she changed her mannerisms and speech in the two roles, something that became especially apparent in the last scene when she literally stepped through the two characters several times.
My only complaint about the play was that some of the dialogue was a bit over-the-top. But as a whole it was an enjoyable play and one that reaffirmed our decision to try out season tickets at Shotgun.
The playwright, Lauren Gunderson, is local to SF and writes plays related to science, which helps to explain how her science felt right.
It's a play about cloning, specifically about a father cloning a daughter from his dead wife's DNA. There's some exploration of the ethics of that, and some discussion of how it's worked out. The playwright also offers up a really strong statement that even with cloning we'll be creating new people, not recreating old people ... but that's all just the background of the play.
The show is really about love, about letting go of the past and grabbing the future, about letting old love die so that new love can find a place. And it was interesting and thoughtful theming.
Parts of the play were slightly experimental, and though I often find that *crap*, it was well done here. In particular there were a few criss-crossing conversations, happening at different times in the chronology, but intercutting on the stage. They came across quite well.
There was also good humor and great acting, particularly on the part of the daughter, who also played her dead mother/clone. She was just amazing in how she changed her mannerisms and speech in the two roles, something that became especially apparent in the last scene when she literally stepped through the two characters several times.
My only complaint about the play was that some of the dialogue was a bit over-the-top. But as a whole it was an enjoyable play and one that reaffirmed our decision to try out season tickets at Shotgun.
The playwright, Lauren Gunderson, is local to SF and writes plays related to science, which helps to explain how her science felt right.