Reviews & Testimonials
‘Take Down’ a bridge for gender gap
From The Register-Guard 20BELOW
Where: The Very Little Theater, 8:15 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday
The plot: Ryan, a gyp who sleeps, eats, and breathes wrestling, finds out that he must wrestle with a female opponent. He also finds out that the girl, Jenna, is undefeated and fears repercussions from his peers if he’s beaten by a girl. From there, Ryan makes several decisions that have implications not only in his own life, but in the lives of others as well.
The good stuff: This play starts off great, and its ending is excellent. Written in a very contemporary style, it has a lot of great humor. However, it is not all laughs. The play also deals with the gender gap in a very well-written and thought-provoking way. The parts of Jenna (Chris Hall) and Ryan (Steve Knight) are played superbly, and the rest of the cast, a mixture of current and former Thurston High students, follows suit. In all, a very well done production.
The other stuff: One of the only problems with the show is some of the interaction between the four-person Greek-style chorus and the characters. At times it can be distracting and confusing, but not so much as to detract from the play. Also, as it is a contemporary play, there is some language and sexual references that may not be suitable for kids younger than 13, though, again not really something that detracts from the show.
The final grade: A++.
— Devin Driscoll, Marist