The North Pool

Here's an example of a show getting a really bad and unfair review in the New York Times. The word "disappointing" was used in the first paragraph in the review, but I don't think that word belongs anywhere near this play.

The North Pool was 85 minutes of pure intensity, and I was into the story the whole time.

I appreciated the detail in the set -- the computer was turned on and spreadsheets could be seen onscreen, the folders held papers that looked like they would be in folders in a high school vice principal's office, and the two characters were wearing ID tags with pictures and info that looked real. It seemed that no detail was overlooked and the creative team truly wanted to present the most realistic piece of theater they could. And they did.

Overall I think this play has a strong script and was well cast. The topic is interesting and is easy to relate to even if you've never actually been in the position that the actors find themselves in.

My biggest issue with Really Really was that at the end the two characters who are involved in the rape situation did not acknowledge each other during the curtain call. At the end of an intense piece of theater, I am grateful when actors break out of being an actor and pat each other on the back, or do something that shows it was all just a play. This didn't happen in Really Really and I think it really needed to. It did happen in The North Pool and it was absolute perfection. I felt like I could walk out of the theater knowing that it was just a play. I don't need the illusion that it's real to follow me out because I know it's not. So, whether or not that was the director's choice or the actor's, I was very appreciative of the pat on the back and handshake the actors shared during curtain call.