GROSSMONT COLLEGE PRESENTS ON THE VERGE NOV 12-21

By Kathy Carpenter

Associate and Youth Reviewer www.sdtheatrereviews.com

November 17, 2015 ( La Mesa) - Grossmont's On The Verge is an interesting diversion on a November autumn night--a character driven play with tremendous acting. Written by television scribe Eric Overmyer and directed by Beth Duggan, the plot on this one is a little thin, leaving the audience a bit confused. Laughter was sprinkled throughout the audience the entire show, yet something was missing.

One line in the play, 'a prisoner in a kaleidoscope' or as Alex ( a character in the play), would say,  not a prisoner but trapped, describes my thoughts as I sat watching.Having overheard several audience members talk at intermission I wasn't the only one feeling this way. Did the second half pick up? Well, it did have a few more laughs and some delightful new characters.

Three adventurous Victorian era women traipsed across the landscape of time in search on a journey to Terra Incognita in a time travel fantasy that starts in 1888 and ends in 1955.

Three sharp witted, talented students played the roles of Casey McNellen as Fanny, Emma Dickson, as Mary, and Kassandra Wallies as Alex, the three ladies. However as brilliant as they may have been, Raymond Kazules, who played all the sides characters, may have shone a litter bit brighter. His dragon lady, Yeti, and Nick persona's were fabulous. You might want to come out to Stage House Theatre just for a character study.

I did love the giant compass on the floor. Grossmont always does a wonderful job switching up flooring for each play. The show was set against a the backdrop of a giant map, and the costumes were great.

Thu, Nov 19: 7:30pm Fri, Nov 20: 7:30pm Sat, Nov 21: 2:00pm & 7:30pm

Box Office: 619-644-7234