Pounce Online

Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: in Review(s)

Listen to our online reporter, Courtney Bruner, talk with cast members. (Audio by Courtney Bruner)

What do you get when you cross a collection of classic plays, villains from those plays, and a great cast? You get Nasty SOBs.

Nasty SOBs, written and directed by Jerry Eisenhour, is about an acting crew that decides to play "interesting" characters for once and plays the villains they have always wanted to play. The greatest villains of all time from plays such as Macbeth, Night Must Fall, Chicago and Tartuffe are shown in short scenes that show the villains at their worst.

The first act of Nasty SOBs has more serious dramas while the second act claims more comedic scenes. The first act was a little slow. The audience seemed restless and bored as one scene after the next went by with short histories of each play in between. The second act went a lot faster and the audience seemed to enjoy it more. Children joined in with the cast members in the second act as they booed the villains and cheered on heroes.

The play was too long. The over two-hour play had too many different plays in it and was rather slow paced. I even saw an audience member fall asleep during the first act of the play.

The scenes were sometimes hard to understand because it was only a portion of a larger play. Audience members were left with unanswered questions about what happened to the characters that were played.

The scenery was a little bland but seemed to work for the play. The fake bricks on the ground almost looked real even though they were only painted on. The lighting, designed by David Wolski, worked with the theme as dark greens and reds shown on the small stage. In one scene from Dracula, moonlight through the windows was shown on the floor. It gave the stage an eerie feeling like the castle in which Dracula lived.

The costumes in Nasty SOBs, were unfitting and were not fantastic in any way. Most of the costumes looked as if they were bought form the Salvation Army and did not particularly fit the actors that wore them. They were worn the entire two hours.

Additions such as capes or top hats were placed over the ugly costumes in some scenes to show different characters. It worked for some and became a distraction in others.

The cast members in Nasty SOBs played many different parts. French, Irish, and Southern accents were heard among the scenes. This showed the range of the actors and seemed very believable. The transitions between the different scenes went smoothly as actors went form one character to a very different one in the next scene.

Bailey Murphy, who played many parts including Millinette in Fashion and Mephistophillis in Doctor Faustus, was one of the most interesting actors to watch.

She was sassy and fun and played her characters very well. Brian Aycock, who played William in The Drunkard and Iago in Othello and many other parts, also played his parts very well. He was funny and entertaining. The audience seemed to enjoy Aycock and the characters he played.

Overall, Nasty SOBs was enjoyable. It had interesting characters and actors but would have worked better if was a little shorter.

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