Went to Centenary College Friday night to see the play Really, Really.

It fell into the category of shows we enjoy more after it’s over and we’re talking about it on the ride home, than during the time of its performance.

It was not, in my opinion, a well written play. It spent of lot of time doing things which failed to evolve the plot or characters and which were not entertaining, and could’ve been paired down to an hours run time with a good edit, likely increasing the impact.

As an example, there were three interludes where one of the characters gave speeches before an imaginary crowd. The actress did a good job with the scenes, but the speeches themselves, drawn out framing devices meant to clarify the shared motivation of the plays characters, were boring, lugubrious, and their point, incredibly blunt compared to the subtle underpinnings of the play, was already being made more organically through other scenes.

Similarly, much of the dialog, particularly between the male characters, well delivered as it was, tended to be rambling, inconsistent, and belabored plot and character points which had already been made. Worst of all, it wasn't entertaining.

Aaron Sorkin gets rightly called out for his long, preachy dialog, but I've generally found it to be highly entertaining, even when it isn’t successfully performing another narrative function.

To be clear, the performances were all at least well done, with Kallie Pierce, playing the lead character Leigh, doing an exceptional job. The scenery, lighting, and sound was also well done. The high quality of Centenary performances is why they stay on our calendar when other venues have fallen off. It was the play itself which failed to live up to its possibility.

Then my wife and I headed home and the play became much better.

The play ended with a rape scene, and because the actors were planning to come back on stage for a talk-back in 15 minutes, they didn’t do a curtain call. This meant there was almost no applause before we left. I would’ve been happy to join in a standing ovation for the performances during a curtain call, but clapping right after a rape scene created such cognitive dissonance in the crowd most of us just sat there for a minute or two at the end trying to figure out how we were supposed to feel.

The play began in the aftermath of a rape involving the same two characters, and was about the nature of victimhood, value, and what people will do in order to achieve happiness. These are the kinds of issues I can’t fully digest during the run time of a play, whether I’m enjoying it or not, which is why one of my favorite parts of seeing live performances is talking to my wife and mother about them as we drive home.

A number of performances we’ve seen have been greatly improved by the discussions we’ve had after them: The Crucible, Vinegar Tom, Fun Home. Sharing the feelings we’re leaving with and why, replaying particular scenes, filling in missed plot and character points for each other. Talking together in the immediate aftermath of a performance allows us to break the experience down and build it back up with a more powerful sense of context, meaning, and depth.

I didn't find Really, Really to be a well written or particularly entertaining play, but the performances were fantastic, the ideas we found tucked away in the piece were exceptional, and I'm very glad we went.