Octopi Wall Street

What I liked

The acting was great. Kimberly Loftus’ Midwestern accent was spot-on, and Jeffrey Gibson did an admirable job with very difficult material.

What I didn't like

This script needed many more drafts. I felt so bad for those actors, all of whom are clearly very talented, because they weren’t given a script so much as a fact sheet about climate change. I felt this was particularly redundant because a projector displayed even more facts above the stage. The result is that none of the dialog feels like something a real person would say. I have no idea how the actors managed to find anything resembling motivation or stakes from this. The only spaces devoid of this was the monologues at the beginning and end, which felt repetitive and pointless. I strongly believe in theater for a cause and theater being a powerful force for change, but this script would have worked better as a pamphlet handed to me by a hippie outside the grocery store.

Also, I wasn’t sure if the drag queen moment was homophobic or transphobic, but as a queer person, I was very uncomfortable with the old white man cackling at the Trump supporter’s joke at the queens’ expense.

My overall impression

Fantastic acting almost saves a script that needs a lot of work.