Dionysus In Stony Mountain

Yesterday our class went to see Dionysus in Stony Mountain at the Rachel Brown Theatre in the Exchange District. It was the first actual play that I have been to since I was a kid - and I don't remember any of those. The play was written by Steven Ratzlaff; Ross McMillan and Sarah Constible were the actors. 

The first act took place at Stony Mountain Penitentiary where James (McMillan) is a manic depressive who strangled his wife to death and Heidi (Constible) is a psychiatrist trying to help him. James begins reciting Friedrich Nietzsche in an attempt to help him cope for the terrible thing that he's done. He stops taking his medication and Heidi tries to find out why - and to get him back on it. I don't want to spoil it if you haven't seen it, so I think I'll just leave it there.



I was absolutely blown away at the actors ability to memorize all of those lines! It was unreal. I can barely remember what I had for breakfast this morning, and they rattled of pages and pages of dialogue.

I loved the use of lighting during the play, I found it very effective to get certain points across. I wasn't a big fan of some of the musical choices that were made (heavy metal-ish), but I can see why they were chosen. There were strong elements of humour present, which helped to lighten the mood of a somewhat dark story.

All in all, it was cool to get out and do something I don't usually do. I have a much greater appreciation for the work that actors do and how incredibly difficult it must be to perfect a role. I hope to find talented actors like Ross and Sarah for my IPP!