The Flick

Tonight Nicole and I went to see The Flick, the 2014 Pulitzer Prize winner by Annie Baker, at Steppenwolf. It takes place in a one screen movie theater in suburban Massachusetts, the last theater in the area with a projector that shows film, yet to bow to digital inevitability. The play focuses on three employees and unfolds in an incredibly natural and compelling way with long conversational pauses and gravity given to the actual sweeping up of popcorn and trash. It also utilizes the setting and movie theater environment to launch interesting pop-culture discussions which circle and glance off the characters personal lives, much like how people interact in real life.

The authenticity of the play is absorbing and comforting and all three actors give excellent performances especially Travis Turner as Avery. There is however something very discordant about the second act's two 'high drama' scenes which strike me as Plot with a big P. After spending an incredible amount of time establishing the natural fluid dynamic of the theater and between the characters these two moments of conflict seem very transparent and forced. It seemed to play into the idea that something needed to happen, that just watching these characters interact and get to know each other wasn't enough, and the truth couldn't be further from the truth. Certainly there are people who want something to "happen" but that is because we are conditioned to be that way. We believe stories and entertainment function in a specific way and that is what we expect. But the reality is that good content is good content, value isn't defined by a prescribed narrative framework. And these two pivot points around which the characters were maneuvered, instead of having dramatic potency, felt cheap.

Unarguably a great play with some stellar performances, a definite must see, despite its problematic moments of contrivance.