The Flick
The Flick
By Annie Baker
Directed by Kenny Howard
Starring Daniel Cooksley and Marcellis Cutler
Gen Y Productions in association with Artful Events
Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Orlando FL</strong>
There’s a lot of pop corn to be swept up tonight, and Sam (Cooksley) along with newbie Avery (Cutler) take their time sweeping it. Up one row, down another, occasionally dumping out the fallen kernels into a bigger trash can. It’s a ritual performed more often than Hail Mary in the Vatican. Thus you might guess this story takes place in a cinema and you are correct; it’s the last one in Massachusetts that projects 35 millimeter. Business is slow, money is low and so is morale. When projectionist Rose (Jessica Hope) describes how the “Dinner Money” system works, Avery reluctantly goes along. He know if anything bad happens he’ll take the brunt since he’s the black dude. Time passes. More pop corn is swept. We get little peeks into character and the hopes and failed dreams of everyone and then during every black out a Popcorn Ninja replaces the droppings, forcing Sam and Avery back to their brooms. Did I mention the set was gorgeous? Thanks, Bonnie Sprung!
Is there a point here? Sam has little future and no sex life and even his retarded brother got married. When Rose teaches Avery the details of running the projector he feels betrayed. Now Rose has sexual hang ups and major student debt, but she’s no worse than many other lost millennials. Avery has the best chance and this job is a pastime more than a career; his dad teaches semiotics and he dreams of starting a “35 Millimeter Appreciation Society” in college next fall. And things do go bad; he takes the hit when a new owner actually knows how to read financials and discovers how Dinner Money works. Avery keeps faith with his faithless friends but they throw him under the projector. These are all sharply written roles and well executed. Cooksley’s blunt and smoldering anger flows smoothly off his tongue while Avery obsesses over film. He’s brutal at “Six degrees” but otherwise is lonely and maladept. Rose is a get along, go along girl with a short attention span and green hair as she leaves men wondering “What the hell was that?” There’s even a supporting character, Coletyn Hentz. He represents the audience’s view as “The Sleeping Man” but later appears as the more experienced floor sweeper replacing Avery.
“The Flick” houses a solid core of hard times and low hopes but breaks down when we get to run time. At three hours with little action there was a debate in the lobby during intermission about fleeing the production. But everyone stuck it out (dress warmly, this theater gets chilly fast) and there was no second act attrition. Inside this bloated behemoth is a tight 90 minute show; Director Kenny Howard meditates on this major flaw in his Directors Notes but stays true to the script. I appreciate his insight but I longed for a rousing game of chess in the dead spots.
For more information on Gen Y Productions please visit http://www.genyproductions.me/
