I really enjoyed this staged reading! The characters felt very realistic and many of the actors did an amazing job at making their roles seem effortless and comfortable. I especially enjoyed the characters Sully and Henry. Sully was my favorite because he seemed so real, like just a normal guy. I thought the script was very well written--it had humor and an ease to it, but it was also quite sad and thoughtful. I wish that I could go see the other reading, "Phaedra," to compare the plays.
I also enjoyed that "Diverting Devotion" was done as a "staged reading." Before coming to the show, I didn't exactly know what was meant by a staged reading, and I thought I wouldn't like the format as much as a normal theatrical production, but I ended up being intrigued by the way it was done. Honestly, it didn't really seem much different than a normal play even though there were few props and the actors were holding their scripts. For me it didn't really detract from the performance at all. The only thing that was occasionally a little distracting was when the actors would keep looking at their scripts, and it was quite distracting when one of them dropped their script by accident, but other than that they had seemed to have memorized most of the lines so I often forgot they were holding their scripts. I also love the intimate feel of the Hennessey Theater--seeing pieces done almost in the round is always fun. I thought the intimate format worked especially well for this play because of the subject matter and it's everyday feel. These people could easily have been friends of yours and I feel like the fact that the stage projected out into the audience made me feel closer to the actors and more invested in the story.
Overall, I am really glad that we went in class because I may have missed this performance otherwise!
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