Who watches the
Watchmen?
Colorful World
Written by James Comtois
Directed by Pete
Boisvert
Nosedive Productions
78th Street Theater Lab,
Equity showcase (through
Review by Charles Battersby
In
1985, Alan Moore began work on what he called the Moby Dick of superhero comics.
The result was Watchmen, a
400-page epic that examined the issue of how the real world would react to the
existence of a super-human. Watchmen was no childish fantasy, or simple
adventure tale, but rather a magnum opus set in a rich, mature world riddled
with subtleties and symbolism.
Playwright
James Comtois has openly said that his show Colorful
World is based on
Both
pieces take place in the recent past, in a world where history unfolded differently. In Colorful
World it is 2005; the
The
existence of a real, live superman also inspired a series of non-powered,
costumed do-gooders, including Ramses (Abe
Goldfarb) and Tigress (Jessi Gotta),
as well as hero fanboys, like Guy Madison (Mac
Rogers). Over the course of the
show, villains are punched, vigilantism is debated, and ultimately a plot to
take over the world is revealed.
There’s
a lot to enjoy about Colorful World; Shearer is great as the apathetic, inhuman
Overman, and the show is filled with multimedia sequences depicting how popular
entertainment and the news media reacts to the superheroes (a high point of
this being a commercial for Overtine, a drink mix endorsed by Overman in a
disinterested monotone saying simply “You should drink this”).
Those
who’ve read Watchmen will notice more
than a few similarities in the above.
Comtois has attempted to distinguish his play from Moore’s work, but the
show still follows the plot of Watchmen
much too closely, using its famous plot twist, and even taking some bits of
dialogue almost verbatim. Comtois’ character of Overman is very similar in
character to Watchmen’s Dr. Manhattan
(with a pinch of Rorschach thrown in); Tigress has The Silk Spectre’s mother
issues, and Ramses is nearly identical to Ozymandias. The play even opens with a scene featuring a
character inspired by The Comedian (renamed The Peacekeeper, as an inside
reference to Charlton comics). Sadly, a
character patterned after Watchmen’s
objectivist vigilante Rorschach only appears in one brief scene.
Those
who have read Watchmen might find Colorful World interesting. It’s just different enough to offer novelties
but, unfortunately, it’s so similar that it will offer no surprises. On the
other hand, those who haven’t read Watchmen
are probably better off just reading Watchmen,
rather than seeing a play based on it.
Writing:
1
Directing:
1
Acting:
1
Sets:
1
Costumes:
2
Lighting/Sound:
2
Copyright
2008 by Charles Battersby
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