By Harold
In my never-ending search for free entertainment, I’ve come across another good option — LAB! Theatre. As you can tell from the use of punctuation, capitalization and British English in the title, it’s very cutting edge.
LAB! is UNC’s oldest and most active student theater group, and most importantly it puts on shows free of charge. Last night I saw Speech & Debate, which actually opened Off Broadway in 2007, at the Elizabeth Price Kenan Theatre.
I think my expectations were a little too high after reading the reviews: ”a triumph” said the NYT, “flat-out funny” said the AP, “one of the top 10 plays of the year” said EW.
For whatever reason, I never find plays to be as funny as movies or TV shows (the opposite for musicals — those plays are better than movies/TV. Dramas are 50/50). So while I certainly liked the idea of students coming together and putting on free entertainment, possibly seeing a future star in the making, the rough and tumble sets and feel and energy of an amateur production — well, I really wanted to like it, but I’m not going to pretend I enjoyed this particular play.
Still, I’m blaming the writer and not the production. So I’m glad to know it’s an option, and I’ll definitely check the calendar to see what the next show is.
Laura
Harold
