Festen

Festen is a funny name for a show. Especially when the show doesn't give you any clue why the show is named Festen. But anyhow, it's a play that's on Broadway that came from London and was not too shabby. Here's the lowdown.

The show is basically about this family that gets together for the father's birthday party. It's a huge cast for a play, there are like 20 people in it or something, grown sons and daughters and family friends attending this bash in this big old house. During this party, some disturbing things about the family's past come to light, and you see this crazy night unravel in this family that pretty much epitomizes dysfunction.

The show is very sparse, with very simple and empty sets and long periods of inaction and silence. Even with this however, I was still gripped the whole time, in a state of maybe less than suspense, but more intrigue I guess. I was pretty impressed, and I think the whole show kind of makes you think - not so much about the action, but about what's going on, the family's reaction to the news, and what the play is trying to say. The show was kind of weird and twisted (which I like), and really just made me ponder aftewards.

There are however, a number of things that I think could have been improved. While the show was suspenseful and eerie a little bit, it had the potential to be much more. Although it's hard to say if that's what it was actually going for. The show kind of channels The Shining, which is cool, except that instead of having these surreal, freaky, haunting moments be because of this weird house (which at one point is implied, but never carried out), it explains things, and it's not all that weird. Like there's a little girl, who has crazy eerie potential, but she's just not. She's just cute.

On that note about implied things that are never carried out. There are so many lines in the play that just seem ominous or foreboding, like they are foreshadowing something significant to come, but then they're all just left alone and ignored. So there are a lot of items that just feel open-ended or unexplained, and you wonder, why did they say that, or was there any significance to such and such, especially when they get mentioned recurringly. That also applies to the characters. There are many characters, and each one seems to be distinct, and you'd think each one would have some sort of significant contribution to the show. Why are there 20 people, what role does each one play? It feels very Clue or murder mystery dinner-esque, and there are lines that imply that each person is significant or needs to be in the show, but then you watch it and you say, why were there so many people? Why couldn't this have been done with just 5 people?

While there are some flaws, I think the show and the subject matter was intriguing enough. The large cast was very strong and they flowed together rather seamlessly, using the space to intertwine and overlap stories very well and setting a very dark, eerie tone. I think the production set a more appropriate tone that the writing just didn't quite live up to, but all in all I think it was a pretty good show, worth watching and definitely instigating some interesting thought.