Up: A Theatrical Review
The Chance Theatre Company has never failed to deliver an exceptionally acted and staged production of anything, and they have again not failed to impress.
Up, written by Bridget Carpenter, is anything but however. This highly depressing production that boils down to being about selfish desires and ambitions being literally an unaltered addiction to the point of decimating the ones we love, is based on the true life story (after the fact) Lawrence Richard Walters, with a touch of Philippe Petit, but is NOTHING like the Pixar film, and does not deal with the specific facts of either man’s life.
In mid-1982 Walters, who had dreamt his entire life of being able to fly, purchased 45 eight-foot weather balloons and obtained helium tanks to fill them. He then proceeded to take an illegal and unauthorized flight in his lawn chair that turned out to be something far and above what he ever thought it would be over his home in San Pedro, CA and winding up caught in power lines in Long Beach, CA after having reached a height of nearly 15,000 feet into the sky. For a short time afterward, he achieved some notoriety on the public speaking circuit, and was asked to appear on the David Letterman Show and the Tonight Show; then, nothing, and presumably nothing to come.
Up takes place some sixteen or so years after this factual event and deals with the life of the true life man who made this insane flight in a lawn chair. It deals with the fact that this man is unable to see the future or the need to make anything of himself as a real business person, but rather pursuing the next major high. His self-indulged fantasy life damages the life and perspectives of his son and his wife, who both are literally decimated by his unwillingness to ever be a real husband or father. He is literally addicted to his own fantasy life, and in doing so has literally abandoned his family, who are left to attempt to cope with whatever life throws their way with little or no guidance or assistance from him.
A truly depressing production that deals with selfishness, teen pregnancy, shyster get rich quick business practices, and total heartlessness to a spouse who desperately deserves far more than she ever receives, left this critic feeling like the production was never finished. It basically started at one point and ended at the exact same point, only if it were possible, everything in this family’s life was actually worse.
This is ABSOLUTELY NOT A PRODUCTION FOR YOUTH! The completely unnecessary amount of foul and vulgar language, sexual references, and attitude of total selfishness are enough seriously cause problems for a young and impressionable young mind. If you are hoping to see something that is in any manner anything like the Pixar film of the same name, stay home. This is NOT anything like that; and where it is extremely well acted and staged, it left this reviewer feeling frustrated to say the very least.
The Chance Theatre is located at 5552 E. La Palma Ave. in Anaheim Hills, CA 92807, and the production runs through October 23, 2011. Tickets can be purchased by calling 714-777-3033 or logging onto the web at www.chancetheater.com.
Enjoy!
Randall Gray
The California Theatre Critic
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