RSS
Home
"Graceless" not without its graces
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
No strangers to the Skybox, Cell Camp are back with their 5th sketch revue, “Social Graceless.” Honing in on the “whiner” things in life, “Social Graceless” shows it’s the little things in life that make the annoyance.
On the whole, the show does have some good social commentary throughout its scenes. Thankfully, not all of this commentary is about the economy; most of it, in fact, is about interactions and relationships between people in today’s pop culture-heavy society. There’s a great scene where two girls chatter in such colloquial, teenage jargon (like,seriously,it-totally-sounds like-some,like,valley-girl-cockney,knowhatimean?) that it becomes difficult for them to communicate when an emergency arises. Another scene in particular stuck out because of its originality - a short recap of “Rocky” done entirely in reverse and to music. While other scenes aren’t necessarily as clever, the show is nonetheless solid and well-constructed, keeping the energy rolling and staying on the offense comedically..png)
The six person cast is anchored by its two female players, Kate Lambert and Marla Depew. Both possess wickedly sharp timing and show great range in character work. Like a veteran tandem in the backcourt of a championship hoops team, Kate and Marla work together in a harmony to be envious of, delivering strong scenework out of wonderful chemistry onstage. The show has one song in it, performed brilliantly by both ladies and left me wanting to hear more. The song’s writing is also commendable, having good meter, rhyme, and overall shape musically.
The only thing to really detract from the show is some murky concepts in scenes; a few scenes have good ideas, but don’t land exactly how I think the group would like. One scene about a couple listening to a song playlist on a road trip starts strong but ends without a discernable conclusion, taking the focus away from the content and more on one character being mean to another. There was also a scene I really think has potential, about mundane tasks being described by a couple with an epic piano score underneath, but something doesn’t click about it. Maybe a key change in the scoring when the stakes are raised or a different staging would help, but I’m left deciding whether the scene was about the couple’s relationship or the game of the epic piano.
In any case, I’m glad Cell Camp committed to trying scenes like these and like I said, they put together a solid show. If you go, I’m sure you’ll notice the group’s comfort with the material and great character work, and keep in mind the concepts and how they differ from scene to scene. Cell Camp have been around for a couple years now, and “Social Graceless” keeps their momentum strong.
“Social Graceless”
Fridays @ 10:30pm
April 24 - May 22
Donny's Skybox
$12 Gen. Ad./$10 for Students
312-337-3992
April 24 - May 22
Donny's Skybox
$12 Gen. Ad./$10 for Students
312-337-3992
For more info: https://chitickets.secondcity.com/Online/ ; http://cellcamp.blogspot.com/
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
.jpg)
Here's some info for those of you out there with at least one year of formal training and a hankering to sing make-em-ups. The Second City Training …
Some shows that come through the Skybox are definitely hit or miss. The New American All-Stars score a hit with their improv along with sketch group …
