MS 499: Advertising and the Social Construction of Gender

MS 499: Advertising and the Social Construction of Gender is a comic and compelling tour de force. Nicole Keating, writer/director, has creatively crafted a 75-minute play that is in a league of its own. The show covers profound topics such as media representation and diversity in both current and historical contexts. The flawless cast manages to maintain an upbeat and humorous pace overall, and smartly plays reflective and nuanced moments with care. With an unforgettable production and a riveting script, the audience walks away realizing what they rarely teach you in school: true originality garners an A+. Lesson learned. ... full review

This play lives up to all the intriguing adjectives used to describe it. It is funny yet educational, imaginative yet factual, informative yet wildly entertaining, provocative but gently so. The cast is perfect in each of their roles, and their use of amusing body language is as important as their flawless delivery of intelligent dialogue. The classroom setting with a pleasing variety of students only adds to the fun. The inclusion of vintage advertising images adds an hilarious subtext. I highly recommend this play and trust that it will find additional opportunities for production. ... full review

Had its moments but, overall, I felt like it was a sophomoric (in keeping with the education theme) level analysis of gender construction. I did love the playwright's premise and the magical fantasy idea is wonderful. The comments by the students were stereotyped and cliche. The instructor character provided no intelligent insight and was the fool of the lot and overacted by the lead actor. I think it is a great idea but would like to see a more deep and insightful production with comic relief.... full review

I enjoyed Advertising more than anything else I saw all season--what a wide-ranging, smart, and incisive look at power and gender! And that is not to even emphasize that it was wildly and painfully funny. For those of us who teach in higher education--or at least for me--it was both a hilarious cautionary and an inspiring motivator. Wonderful work!... full review

What a delightful and witty play with a very timely narrative. I had a great time laughing, learning and relating to the show!!!! The writing of the script is superb! The cast, crew and plot worked so well together to have a compelling deliverance. It's amazing how the actors remembered not very easy terms and lines (especially the lead "professor" of the course). Congratulations to the whole team working on this show!... full review

This show did not disappoint! It was fun, fast-paced and completely fresh--breaking down advertising and the social construction of gender in a truly unique and engaging way. The cast was stellar and the the writing superb. ... full review

The play was absolutely fantastic, clever, witty, educational, and really funny. Well-written script and very relevant to our time. ... full review

As a stand up comedian? I really enjoyed the show well written the actors performances outstanding there was education, laughter I walk out of the show so happy I haven’t seen anything good like this in a long time. Cory was funny. Wow what a performer.... full review

The most educational theatre performances of Hollywood Fringe 2023! This play has the best costumes and the creative ensemble in town!... full review

This research project-turned-crackling play, as seen in very close quarters at the Hudson Theatre two weeks ago, was creative theatre at its best! From an ordinary syllabus erupted a series of vignettes, characters, plot lines, and hilarities of confusing plot lines that, when fused with Nicole Keating's direction, became abundantly clear: from the extremely ordinary springs the liveliness of theatrics so engaging that we are constantly rebalancing the Rubik Cubes in our brains to track who is who and/or why. An eye and brain “opener,” blessed with acting and shenanigans, that would defy even Aristophanes and his Frogs! I loved every minute of it and am still sorting my “cubes” (so to speak)!... full review