Up-and-coming University playwrite debuts in New York
By: Aditi Dubey
Issue date: 6/2/06 Section: Entertainment
Originally published: 6/2/06 at 10:37 AM EST
Last update: 6/7/06 at 12:13 AM EST
Originally published: 6/2/06 at 10:37 AM EST
Last update: 6/7/06 at 12:13 AM EST
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Freezeframe
FreezeFrame, unlike both of the others, experiments with a novel idea. The underlying theme of the play is the amount of control one can exert on other people's emotions and how to do that. In fact, when the very first scene comes on, we see Aliyah explain the pleasure of being able to have control over the minds of others against the background of a projector screen with the words "how to freeze a man's soul" flashing across it. In FreezeFrame, the main characters - Aliyah, Brianna, Paul and Mark - are constantly in conflict with each other. While Aliyah almost seems inhuman in her quest to freeze the souls of others, Paul comes across as one of those "dark, troubled heroes" from novels like Wuthering Heights. Paul is on a quest similar to Aliyah's, except that he is a photographer who wants to capture the souls within the photographs he takes. Mark is a wasted college student who, when he's in the mood, studies the reversal of Earth's magnetic poles. He has designed a device that will allow him to freeze people in time at the moment when the poles reverse. Brianna is a confused student who keeps changing majors with the hope that experimenting with different subjects will finally show her what she really wants. The play has two simultaneous plots running, one involving Brianna and Mark, the other Aliyah and Paul. Though the script is crisp and the dialogues are powerful, the play fails to keep the audience interested because of flaws in the way that the play is presented. The audience frequently gets confused about the motives of the characters and the direction is so inadequate that the sequence of events becomes extremely hard to follow. The characters seem disjointed and, at times, even disembodied. It's not very easy to identify with them. Yarchun's play must be applauded for its novel idea and unique approach to the workings of the human mind, but the direction and pacing leave a lot to be desired.
FreezeFrame, unlike both of the others, experiments with a novel idea. The underlying theme of the play is the amount of control one can exert on other people's emotions and how to do that. In fact, when the very first scene comes on, we see Aliyah explain the pleasure of being able to have control over the minds of others against the background of a projector screen with the words "how to freeze a man's soul" flashing across it. In FreezeFrame, the main characters - Aliyah, Brianna, Paul and Mark - are constantly in conflict with each other. While Aliyah almost seems inhuman in her quest to freeze the souls of others, Paul comes across as one of those "dark, troubled heroes" from novels like Wuthering Heights. Paul is on a quest similar to Aliyah's, except that he is a photographer who wants to capture the souls within the photographs he takes. Mark is a wasted college student who, when he's in the mood, studies the reversal of Earth's magnetic poles. He has designed a device that will allow him to freeze people in time at the moment when the poles reverse. Brianna is a confused student who keeps changing majors with the hope that experimenting with different subjects will finally show her what she really wants. The play has two simultaneous plots running, one involving Brianna and Mark, the other Aliyah and Paul. Though the script is crisp and the dialogues are powerful, the play fails to keep the audience interested because of flaws in the way that the play is presented. The audience frequently gets confused about the motives of the characters and the direction is so inadequate that the sequence of events becomes extremely hard to follow. The characters seem disjointed and, at times, even disembodied. It's not very easy to identify with them. Yarchun's play must be applauded for its novel idea and unique approach to the workings of the human mind, but the direction and pacing leave a lot to be desired.
