What I liked
Verity Van Dams played the hell out of three frenzied characters dealing with male incompetence (and worse) in this show about a show she has masterfully co-created with Austin Valdez, who was giving superstar as celebrity talkshow host Zeus McGuire. Jim Nieb was dead on as a sleazy ultra-right leaning senator, maximizing my progressive squirms as he revealed more and more of his ugly politics and sick nature. Should I have booed when he denied a person of color a flag he was passing out to audience members to wave in his support? Should I have booed when he came back onstage after sexually assaulting the show’s PA in the backstage restroom on a hot mic? Should I at least have not clapped for him? But it’s just a show, right? I was laughing throughout the play, but some of those laughs made me feel uneasy in this meta, self-conscious way. Captive Audience got me thinking about my relationships with art, politics, and other consumers of art and politics – and ultimately, about my own identity and morality. Entertaining and DEEP.
What I didn't like
What happened to Zeus’s girlfriend?? Dying to know!
My overall impression
A funny and intense immersive play that left me unexpectedly questioning my own values and recognizing my complicity in group-think. The layers keep surfacing and it’s messing with my head!!!!
