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Peer Reviews Neighborhood 3: Requisition of
Doom Reviewed by Keith Waits Entire contents copyright © 2008, Keith Waits. All rights reserved.
Computer games have been a part of the popular culture for more than a generation, but the latest crop of on-line role-playing products inspire a level of devotion that sometimes crosses over into unhealthy obsession, as the players spend hours a day in front of their computers, logged into a fictional existence that supercedes their real life. This is the setting of Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom, a new play by Jennifer Haley that opened last night at Actors Theatre of Louisville. The characters consist of several teenage gamers and their parents, all of whom live in the same neighborhood and all of whom become caught up in the dynamic of a particularly insidious on-line experience in which the settings for the game are modeled, using satellite technology, on the very streets on which they live. It is a clever idea, one that allows the playwright to quickly blur the lines between fantasy and reality, as the "action" of the game begins to blend more and more with the "action" of the characters' daily lives. The script opens with a sharp, funny tone that eventually develops into something altogether more disturbing before the end. If the commentary Ms. Haley seems to be making sometimes comes across as heavy-handed, it is nicely balanced by the well-observed dialogue and relatively brief one-act structure. She is well served by a nimble cast who rarely strike a false note. Robin Lord Taylor and Reyna de Courcy effortlessly bring to life the series of teenage characters playing the game, particularly in the first scene, where the two almost seem like kids who wandered onto the stage by mistake, unaware that we are there to eavesdrop on their curious interaction. John Leonard Thompson and Kate Hampton are almost as good as various mothers and fathers struggling to reconnect with their children. Mr. Thompson is especially inventive, creating quirky and detailed character sketches. Ms. Hampton seems a little adrift in her early scenes, not quite registering as fully as the others, but she gains strength as the evening progresses, delivering the goods in full during the creepy finale. Scenic designer Michael B. Raiford provides a distinctive set that is perfectly evocative of the cyberspace environment, and the rest of the production team effectively contribute to director Kip Fagan's striking visual staging, which somehow manages to obliterate the limitations of the small Victor Jory Theatre. I would be interested to know how actual on-line gamers might respond to the play's apparent condemnation of their world, particularly as the only gamers depicted are teenagers. Since on-line players range in age, including many adults above 30, it opens the work up to criticism. But this is only a problem if one chooses to ignore the broader context that Ms. Haley embraces in her writing.
Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom Posted Mar. 21, 2008
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