The Daily Texan Can Kiss It. And by "it," I mean "The Idiot."

The Daily Texan slammed The Idiot.

I would like to pick it back up.

-Tom Truss is my hero for 1) crying real tears on command, 2) acting seizures, 3) having curly hair that bounces when he walks (I actually felt really cheated at the beginning of Act II when they'd slicked it down).

-The entire family of the General was perfection.  Each actor within this set had their own character completely developed, every relationship between each character was clear, and they were just amazing to watch.  These four also kept me invested in watching the show because of the varying spatial relationships that they utilized in their scenes (granted, it's easier to use the space more diversely with four people than one or two, but still).

-The peddler's character was also one that kept me interested in what was going on physically simply because the actor made dynamic choices in how his character should move and speak.

-The lighting design was beautiful.  The Russian lettering on the floor as the show opened... yes.  I am continually amazed by how cool our tech people make every performance.

-The scenic design was also not only visually impeccable, but very smart.  The space that started out as a dark, gloomy train cab morphed seamlessly into grand reception halls and living rooms, modest lower class parlors, discrete hideaways, and all with minimal set and prop changes (which, in my opinion, largely reflects the abilities of the actors- we believe that they are where they believe that they are, if that makes any sense at all).

I had only two tiny issues, which were more like nit picky naggings rather than attributes that pulled away from the show as a whole.

-Nastasia Philipnova (spell check).  I have seen her in past productions, and this is the first time that I've ever felt that her performance was not up to par with the rest of the cast.  I felt like her voice stayed the same volume, with no dynamic range, which led to a smaller range of emotion that we received from her.  And while completely lovely and physically suited for the part, her approach to the character just didn't sit right with me.  I felt that she was too reserved, which kept us from feeling anything for her character: I didn't feel hatred (she wasn't vindictive enough for that) nor sympathy (she evoked no emotions of sadness), or love (for she was clearly intended to be an antagonistic figure).  But I adore her accent.

-The footman walked the walk, but stumbled hard over the Russian talk.  No one tell Tommy I said that. :)

Anyway.  Overall, I really enjoyed it, from 8:00 until the lights fell (which was at 11:56).  Even saw it twice.

Yay for 19,872,342,384,689 hour plays and fake seizures.