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magidI ushered for Company One's production of Astro Boy and the God of Comics, and it was a lot of fun. The play is about Astro Boy and his creator Osamu Tezuka, a Japanese man who grew up during WWII, finding a love of cartoons rather than becoming the doctor his parents had hoped for.
It's a story told in chapters, counted down in reverse chronological order, from the end of Astro Boy's story back to how he came to be (both in story and out), back to Osamu's cartooning and childhood. Each chapter is not only a different part of the story, but also done in a different way. One chapter had live cartooning and acting; one included clear projection screens as computer screens activated by movement and making goofy sounds; while yet another used old black and white home movies. One of my favorite chapters had six actors sitting and making all the sounds and movements of the introductory panels of a comic book, including the gear shift, the whine of the engine, the yap of a dog, the swaying when going around a corner.
I was impressed with how all the different pieces fit together, including sound and some intriguing lighting effects (red light pooling for blood, slow trails of pale light for tears). The actors did a great job, sometimes in semi-anonymous jumpsuits, sometimes taking on particular characters.
I hadn't known anything about this before I went to the show, and it was still great.
It's a story told in chapters, counted down in reverse chronological order, from the end of Astro Boy's story back to how he came to be (both in story and out), back to Osamu's cartooning and childhood. Each chapter is not only a different part of the story, but also done in a different way. One chapter had live cartooning and acting; one included clear projection screens as computer screens activated by movement and making goofy sounds; while yet another used old black and white home movies. One of my favorite chapters had six actors sitting and making all the sounds and movements of the introductory panels of a comic book, including the gear shift, the whine of the engine, the yap of a dog, the swaying when going around a corner.
I was impressed with how all the different pieces fit together, including sound and some intriguing lighting effects (red light pooling for blood, slow trails of pale light for tears). The actors did a great job, sometimes in semi-anonymous jumpsuits, sometimes taking on particular characters.
I hadn't known anything about this before I went to the show, and it was still great.