I Remember Mama By The Baton Rouge

? Essay, Research Paper

Aaron A. Aubrey

English 2029-12

Mr. Decker

14 Nov 1999

“I Remember Mama”

The recent production of “I Remember Mama” by The Baton Rouge Little

Theatre left much to be desired in my mind. The real flaw in this unsuccessful

production wasn’t so much the occasional annoyances and quirks by the cast and director,

it was the play itself. I felt that the local talent of The Baton Rouge Little Theatre was

wasted on such a droll work. I found it difficult to stay focused on the play and instead

found myself slightly annoyed and bored by the production and poor decision making

process of the director.

I was invited to this production by a friend who also performs at The BRLT. We

originally intended on spending a relaxing evening viewing a play in which some of her

peers performed in, but as the play “wore” on our presence there became more of a social

visit. Normally I would have been pleased with our nice seating arrangement and un-

obstructed view, but on this occasion this proved to inhibit us from excusing ourselves

without significantly disturbing other members of the audience.

As if the play itself wasn’t annoying enough, other irritating elements came into

being throughout the performance that I feel could have been avoided by decisions the

director made. One particular annoyance that stood out in my mind throughout the

performance was the use of Norwegian accents. I will admit, however, that I was

forewarned about this by my friend who was also annoyed by this decision. Having lived

in Norway for six years, I found their “accents” to resemble nothing Norwegian at all.

The cast seemed disconnected in their effort to portray any particular nationality at all as

some members found “interesting” variations of pronouncing the same words.

I can’t single out any specific actor in particular, but I felt that overall this

performance was poorly cast. Toward the beginning of the performance, I found myself

“reaching” at times to understand some casting decisions, but I was soon turned off to the

play and I really didn’t care anymore. Props, stage layout and organization, and scenery

actually added a nice simple touch, but the lack of costume creativity and variation

detracted from this one nice aspect of the play.

“I Remember Mama” was a poor production decision for The BRLT overall.

While the play was, at best, tolerable at times I feel that the director, Roy Hamlin, could

have avoided adding additional unfavorable elements to an already bland work by

eliminating the faux accents and perhaps deviating to the side of variety slightly to keep

the audience interested throughout the production.