Three weeks ago I went to view a play entitled "New York Values" which was written and performed by a very well known artist around the globe named Penny Arcade (her actual name is Suzanne Ventura). "New York Values" was Penney Arcade's latest piece of work and like all her other works of art were written and produced in New York. For the simple fact that Penny performed this play as a one-woman act, one could say that the play "New York Values" took on the characteristics of a monologue and the comical gestures in the play made it seem like a stand up comic show.
When I first heard of the play, I was thinking "oh my goodness, here goes another one of those long "Grease" musical, open and close the curtain type plays", but I was so completely ahead of myself. Watching this play was not like watching your typical musicals or traditional "Romeo and Juliet" type plays. This play was "weird" and that's meant in a good way. What made it weird was because it wasn't like the traditional plays where there are many actors playing different characters, with extravagant settings in a huge auditorium (which might have taken hours to create), and elaborate costumes but the fact that is was the complete opposite. When arriving at Theater Lab Houston, flabbergasted was probably the word written not only on my face but on others as well. The huge auditorium with the large velvet curtains that many others and I had expected was not there. Instead there was a small, cozy, intimate shack that looked like the remnants of an old house. It was almost as if I were at home relaxing in my living room. This setting made the audience feel involved and apart of the play unlike many of the "regular" plays and musicals that many of us are usually accustom to. The way in which the stage was setup stage was extremely close to the audience sitting. The stage setup contributed to the intimacy felt in the theater as well.
