Over the past two weekends, the School of Performing Arts put on its production of “Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom.” The play was written by Jennifer Haley in 2008 and chosen as the University of Maine’s fall production. The play follows multiple pairings of children and parents as they struggle with their relationships due to coming of age and this mysterious new video game.
Let’s start out with the positives. I thought there were very strong performances from this cast all around. River Brechan, a fourth-year theater major, Marissa Morin, a first-year secondary education student, Owen Hines, a fourth-year theater student, Abi Richmond, a second-year art education student and Hope Waterman, a third-year theater student, all stand out in particular. Liam Burlingham, a second-year theater student, should also get notice for delivering a solid and sadly brief comedic relief performance in a play that fell flat on a good chunk of its attempted humor.
If I were to give out a best performance award for this play, I would have to give it to Richmond. The way they nailed that very particular kind of suburban wine mom, who is both controlling and has no real attachment to her son, was very impressive. They also had a presence on stage where it felt like they owned every scene they were in.
Brechan did a fantastic job embodying his role as a snot-nosed brat. On top of that, I thought his and Morin’s scene was a strong opener for the rest of the play.
The plot of the play is quite enticing. There were twists and turns, mysteries and a cool core concept. Fusing the internet, and a video game in particular, with reality is something I always find intriguing in art. I found this implementation of that idea to be successful. My favorite part of this play has to be what happens with the narrator and the slow reveal of who it actually is.
One thing I found an issue with was the fatigue I felt with the ideas the play explored. This is not anyone’s fault necessarily. It’s just that some of the themes in the play have been so abundant in art, news and media lately that I found them to be quite trite at times.
Some parts are quite heavy-handed. There were repeated sentiments and lines of dialogue that at times felt patronizing, like the audience was the children getting lectured at by the parents. This was not the fault of the students because they didn’t write the script, but if the director had cut some of the repetition, I think it would have made the play less didactic.
The set work of this production was tremendous. I loved the suburban house piece that changes throughout different scenes in the play. For the final scene, I thought the design of the room was a beautiful and effective example.
Based on this experience, I am going to be there on day one for their spring production of “Hamlet.” It was a play you tell the whole neighborhood about.
