I Won't Tell

What I liked

I really liked how the actors and director chose to use the space. Even though they were given a small black box theater, they were able to fill the space and create really interesting stage pictures. I especially thought that this was effective during the sexual assault scenes where one actress would be holding up a table and cloth to signify a bed while the other was in the bed. It felt like a very respectful, but still powerful way of illustrating what was happening to her character. I also thought that the scene with one of the characters and her families eating was very effective, and that the actress did a great way of creating the illusion of multiple people on stage, even when it was physically only one or two of them on stage. I also thought they did a great job at implementing different themes and significant elements like the necklace, the gunpowder, and the cultural differences between the two characters early on to establish an interesting dynamic and create stakes for the characters. I really loved the ending where we saw the two actresses playing out a more contemporary scene. I thought that this was a fantastic way to comment on how our history and our ancestors affect us and the untold stories that are a part of our cultural histories are apart of who we are in the present day.

What I didn't like

Again, I thought that the story was so interesting as well as passionate and important. I was so engaged as an audience member and I think one of the hardest things to do is to create a genuinely significant story that people want and need to see which was very well done with this production. One thing that I thought could be improved is that I feel it’s really difficult to create high stakes and a complete narrative in a one act format. Although I felt like the narrative was definitely complete and well told, I did think that the characters could have higher stakes. For example, I know that the necklace was very important to the characters and would be interested in seeing what could come out of making the initial necklace transferring from one character to another a bit longer so there’s more of a resistance and higher stakes for the characters. I also thought that both characters were incredibly well acted, but I was a little bit unsure of their ages. I think that the idea that both of them are the same age is incredibly interesting and something I would love to see which I think could be easily implemented by either aging up one of the characters or aging down one of the characters to meet each others.

My overall impression

I thought that I Won’t Tell was a really fantastic piece of theater that told an incredibly compelling and important story in an interesting and well thought out way.