Review: The Royal Knight Stage Company of River Ridge High School Presents the Cool and Disturbing NEIGHBORHOOD 3: REQUISITION OF DOOM

"Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living; it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope." --Dr. Seuss

"Life is like a video game; everyone must die!" --a line from NEIGHBORHOOD 3: REQUISITION OF DOOM

Submitted for your approval. A small brouhaha is erupting in Pasco County, according to a recent Tampa Bay Times article. Sports in public schools are allowed during the pandemic, including indoor sports, but the performing arts are not. Football players can tackle one another, their sweat flying into the faces of other student athletes, and mask-less volleyball players can high five each other, but actors cannot appear before a socially distant live audience. Broadway is closed until next year; might as well have local high schools follow suit. For many, it doesn't make sense; it's like local schools have entered their own version of "The Twilight Zone."

Imagine if you're David O'Hara, renowned theatre teacher and director at River Ridge High School. You had already bought the rights to a show only to find out that you can't have an audience in the Center for the Arts watching it due to Covid-19. Even after all protocols for safety had been followed both by the actors and the audiences (in a show where no more than two actors are onstage at the same time), the answer was still a resounding no. But the rights of the show had already been obtained; thousands of dollars spent; what would you do if you were Mr. O'Hara?

To stream the impossible stream...

This is the first review I have given of a show that I watched from my computer. First of all, don't let anyone tell you that streaming is a proper substitute for seeing a show in-person. It's not even close. It's like viewing masterpieces from an art book rather than in-person at the actual Uffizi. Thankfully for Mr. O'Hara and the amazingly talented students in his Royal Knight Stage Company, they are performing a show that is ideal for live-streaming: NEIGHBORHOOD 3: REQUISITION OF DOOM by Jennifer Haley.

The show itself--about the effects of video games, where people can't separate reality from the actual game--is rather cool, a perfect warning that should appeal to teens and their parents. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and probably would have loved it even more seeing it live and in-person. But the Rolling Stones said it best: "You can't always get what you want..." But this show, with its video feeds and chilling visuals, suited itself well for the streaming experience; it burst out from the usual doldrums of live-streaming and became a cool hybrid. It's like an episode of "The Twilight Zone" meets "The Walking Dead" as written by Eugene Ionesco. I was amazed out how transfixed I was viewing it.

The show is quite unnerving and odd. Set in suburbia, where the houses seem alike, an online video horror game is addictive to teens and suddenly the lines between reality and virtual reality mesh. The game is more than a game; why are you breaking that gnome with a hammer and what do you do with the neighbor who's lying dead on the sidewalk? Be afraid. Be very afraid.

In its own way, without using a Stanley Kramer sledgehammer to pound out its theme, it's an acrid probe into the effects of video games. I remember several years ago when I saw one of my young nephews playing a game that had people pleading for their lives before the gamer decides to blow them away or not. Something was most definitely wrong. NEIGHBORHOOD 3 takes this to the next level--where we can't tell what's real in a violent video game and what's not.

The acting, as usual with the Royal Knights, is quite good. It's an ensemble piece, with various actors in different scenes, some of them hard to differentiate from one another. The performers are 100% committed to the story, the theme and (especially) the tone. Leading the pack is the always incredible Cody Farkas, who portrays zombiekillr14 and Blake. Is there anything this young actor can't do? You might remember him in his chilling portrayal last year in The Amish Project. He's equally chilling here, but on a different scale, "11" on the Spinal Tap meter. And the ending, so horrific and gruesome in his hands (it's like a George Romero movie here), almost knocked me out of my seat. And that's while watching it virtually. I can't imagine the power of this moment in a live theater.

Equally good is Emily Lavechia as Madison, a rabid gamer. She goes full tilt boogie as she crazily kills off zombies in the game--a gung ho Wednesday Addams, Lydia from Beetlejuice (instead of "Dead Mom," she's all about "Dead Zombies"). Gaming is her crack, and Lavechia is a marvel in the role.

Gracie Pipenberg, strong as Vicky, one of the moms, brings out the creepiness in this ordinary world. Vivian Wright, in a blood splattered apron (she says she's making Buffalo wings), throws a glorious tantrum. Vivi Raab and Alayssa Browning do quite well as two other mothers. Dylan Smith is incredibly creepy as the weed-whacking Tobias. Matthew Bracker and Robert Matson play the schlubby dads to a tee. Kaitlyn Knoblach is wonderfully all-over-the place emotional as Makayla. Chaasad Fearing, Elsa Al-Awar, Hayden Danielson, Nick Anderson and Caitlynn Henson all do quality work as some of the kids/players.

Each actor has his or her moment to help build the disquiet of this show, some of them saying their lines in a slow, Kubrickian style. But they are performing for the stage and not for the camera, and only in a theater would we get the full effect of their performances.

But there's one element of this show that I have not specifically mentioned yet, and it was the biggest surprise. If Mr. O'Hara and his company are going to stream, they're going to stream big. Between each scene is a wonderful, hellishly creepy video re-enactment of the game, complete with zombies (always on the peripheral, never overdone). I was wowed by the professionalism of these videos. They really add to the streaming experience and make NEIGHBORHOOD 3 more than just a filmed play performance. The walking videotaping, by Jim Moss, was sensationally accomplished. (And was that fellow BWW critic, Deb Kelley, as one of the zombies?)

The show opens with images of empty streets while REM's "Drive" plays, and it made me want to listen to Automatic for the People as soon as the performance was over.

David O'Hara's direction is top-notched, aptly aided by his assistant director, Chelsea Christopher. O'Hara gets the right feel for the piece, and there's something "off" in each scene. He gets that "otherness," the tension, the sense of surprise in a show like this. I didn't know what to expect, nor was I able to predict what would happen next (though I knew the ending would end with a bang not a whimper). Best of all, each of his actors buy into his vision. I appreciate that there's a foreboding underneath the suburban splendor. Sometimes scenes are underscored by the sound of dread, low Psycho-like music, and it works. O'Hara's set design is spot on--with few homey set pieces and the screen projecting images of houses, rooms and the neighborhood surroundings: a suburban dreamland that may or may not turn into an apocalyptic nightmare.

With zombies, the fake protection of suburbia, family dysfunction, teen angst, and the blurring of reality and fantasy, this is the quintessential David O'Hara production. It's like Robert Kirkman got together with David Lynch.

There are only two more streaming performances of NEIGHBORHOOD 3: REQUISITION OF DOOM: Saturday, November 7th at 7:30 PM and Sunday, November 8th at 2:30 PM. The play was beautifully filmed at The Center of the Arts at River Ridge. The production will be streamed at https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/42100. This will be a streaming presentation ONLY for $10 access. Mr. O'Hara and the Royal Knight Stage Company request that for more than 3 people watching the stream in one location pay a $35 fee. You don't want to miss it.

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