CCHS Thespians “The Frogs” was good, but not great

BY GENNA NORDLING

What has thespians’ inside jokes, ancient Greek language and political figures? The CCHS Thespians’ rendition of “The Frogs” by Aristophanes, of course. This production was not necessarily action-packed, but it was filled with great acting and an interesting interpretation of the original book.

These characters add a personal touch to the play but make little sense to the crowd if the audience doesn’t know Berger or Barton.

The first act opened with the entire cast lined up in character as politicians. Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton were just a few familiar faces seen on stage. This scene was meant to resemble the actual casting process for the show and was run by the stage manager “Miley Bergles” (Emily Kaufman) and the director “Mr. Burton” (Alex Brower).

These characters were added to the play to poke fun at the real stage manager of the production, Thespians President Rylee Berger, and the real director, Aaron Barton, and their many quarrels. These characters add a personal touch to the play but make little sense to the crowd if the audience doesn’t know Berger or Barton.

Once the first scene was over, the actual play began. When Dionysus (Reese Abrahamoff) and Xanthias (Gabriela Phillips) enter the show by traveling through the audience, one via pool floaty, it became apparent that these two are the stars of the show. Throughout the rest of the first act, Phillips and Abrahamoff succeeded in entertaining their audience through their expressive voices and fantastic chemistry. The duo managed to tell the story even though the dialogue was complex and hard to comprehend.

Though the characters and overall plot were not lost, some aspects of the show fell victim to the archaic jokes. A lot of jokes did perform well with the audience, and a visual comedic scene got a lot of laughs, however, a good number of jokes fell flat solely because they were obscured by confusing dialogue.

When Dionysus (Reese Abrahamoff) and Xanthias (Gabriela Phillips) enter the show by traveling through the audience, one via pool floaty, it became apparent that these two are the stars of the show.

One of the best scenes by far was at the end of the first act when Abrahamoff was “caught” reading his script on stage and was “fired” by the director. This sets up the opening scene of the second act for success, as the audience anticipates what will happen next. It is revealed in this scene that the director takes on the role of Dionysus himself, which is a very funny concept.

The remainder of the second act went by fairly quickly and was one long debate between the two poets Aeschylus, dressed as Hillary Clinton (portrayed by Annabelle Rosa), and Euripides, dressed as Donald Trump (portrayed by Selene Serra). “Aeschylus’s Rebuttal,” sung by Rosa in the seventh scene, was absolutely beautiful, however, it was quiet. It seems that there were audio issues at the most inopportune time possible. Technical difficulties aside, the song was great and left the audience thinking only one thing, “I wish I could hear it.”

Phillips and Abrahamoff succeeded in entertaining their audience through their expressive voices and fantastic chemistry.

The best part of this production was the variety of interactive elements sprinkled throughout. One of the funniest moments of the night was during the first scene. The director was about to ask another person to audition for a part in the play when an unsuspecting parent tried to enter the auditorium. Brower then spoke directly to the parent, asking if they were also here to audition. While it was likely that the parent was embarrassed, it lightened up the mood and made the audience laugh.

Another fun interactive bit was during the entrance of Xanthias and Dionysus. Xanthias asked Dionysus to take a picture of him and an audience member. It is these moments that make the show memorable.

Overall, “The Frogs” was an entertaining play because of the acting, interactive elements and clever juxtaposition of the classic characters and famous politicians. But hindering the production from complete success were the complex language dominating the dialogue, technical issues and inside jokes. However, stupendous acting and singing, along with interactive scenes, revived the show and allowed it to still be good.

Disclaimer: Annabelle Rosa is also a General Editor of The Lariat.

Photo by Kayla Florenco