After seeing Alison Grimm at the Edge of the World, I left the theater more confused than when I entered it. However, the confusion only added to the show’s entertainment.
Alison (played by senior Iliana Smalanksas), a teenager, spends the play drifting between reality and her own imagination. Alison’s mother Bonnie (played by senior Julia Lopriore), her boyfriend Ricky (played by senior Greg Seage) and her doctor (played by senior Jonah Greenawalt) interact with Alison in reality.
At the same time, literary characters like Jean Louise “Scout” Finch (played by senior Kate Fiske), Nancy Drew (played by Junior Carley McKee) and Holden Caulfield (played by junior Jesse Vogel) dominate her mental world.
Throughout the play, Alison is searching for her “book”, a book that supposedly contains everything she has ever done and ever will do. The idea that Alison’s whole existence is based in her “book” blew my mind, and made the entire play seem dreamlike.
Much of the play felt psychedelic because it was told through lights, music, dancing and singing. Many of the literary characters enjoy dancing together and acting quite foolish. I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around what was reality and what wasn’t.
I never knew what was next, which made this play unique. It seemed as if none of Alison Grimm’s problems were being resolved, they just mounted on top of each other. By the end of the play, I felt bewildered.
The play had many sources entertainment, one being comedy. Both senior Debbie Ng and senior Gabriel Sehringer brought humor to the stage as they demonstrated the wackiness of their characters. Ng’s character, Mrs. Valerie, exploded into random Chinese tangents whenever Alison didn’t practice her flute and Sehringer’s character, Mayor Major, was an awkward mumbling man who seemed lost in his own world.
Overall, the play blew my mind, and I see it as a fitting end to the plays in the Little Theater. I can’t wait to see what the spring musical will bring.