What I liked
The lighting. The tech. The transitions. The voice modulator. The camping. The ambiance. The crowd. The crowd participation. The comedy. The anxiety. The humanity.
What I didn't like
nothing.
My overall impression
Empathy Party is many things, chief among them: an experience. Through a combination of wit, grit, heart, humor, and authentic storytelling, Ariel manages to effectively portray what many try and so often fail within the context of experimental theatre: the dichotomy of being a person in an impersonal world.
Ariel perfectly encapsulates the “noise” of toxic and perfunctory self-help culture along with a worldly weariness of sustaining one’s mental health in a post-pandemic world thanks in large part to his utilization of various media and clever comedic asides, but never loses sight of his grounded narrative: his identity as a human being who deserves to be seen, heard, and loved. I resonated a lot with his personal struggles and think we could all learn to be better humans by following his example of vulnerability and dogged self-acceptance.
