The play “Never the Sinner” by John Logan delivers an ambitious and explorative experience. It is directed by Charles Falcon, who did an outstanding job of managing the team. The world premiere of the play being reviewed was held in Stormfield Theatre in Chicago. The “Never the Sinner” was presented by the San Antonio College Department of Fine Arts in Texas. The dates were from the 7th to 17th of February. The main topic and plot of the play revolved around Nietzsche’s idea of Ubermensch or Superman. The story is about two male characters with perfectly comfortable lives who proceed to commit horrendous crimes in order to exercise their superiority. The play outlines how arrogance can lead to a path of self-destruction.
In general, the cast’s overall performance was highly believable and outstanding because the pacing and speed of storytelling were slow and yet entertaining. However, there were minor issues related to their teamwork, which seemed in need of further improvement. The dialogues and communicative parts between characters were a little lagging, which hindered the fully immersive experience of the play. Nonetheless, the given issue was present only during the first part, and then later, the cast had given an excellent performance.
The team had achieved its goal of delivering an idea of Overman and the concepts behind Nietzsche’s views. The story and the performers fully reveal how the underlying philosophy can be manifested in real life.
The main characters are Richard Loeb, played by Ryan Willis, Nathan Leopold, played by Gabriel Gonzales, Robert Crowe, played by Eric Quiroz, and Clarence Darrow, played by Kyle Pichot. The reporters #1, #2, and #3 were performed by Stephen Mullen, Trinity Stevens, and Ernesto Dominguez, respectively. The character of Nathan Leopold Jr. was the first one to appear; therefore, there was an immense responsibility for delivering an impressive start. Gabriel’s performance was perfect, and he can be considered the strongest performer due to his charm and charisma. Although all cast members showed an outstanding performance, Kyle Pichot, who played Clarence Darrow, was not as loud as it was needed to be. In addition, Kyle gave delayed responses several times through the play.
Scene designer Nathan Thurman did a fantastic job making every scene as believable as possible because the viewer could forget that it was all staged. Background, set designs, costumes, and props were satisfying additional elements to the overall play because they created a fully immersive experience. However, the sound and lighting needed some improvement because it seemed that occasionally the viewer could not hear the performers’ key phrases. Moreover, the light was not bright enough, which made some key scenes dim. It is clear that the current technology allows eliminating the technical problems of lighting and sound effects.
In conclusion, the performance and production of the play “Never the Sinner” by John Logan was an outstanding and highly immersive experience, and the team did an excellent job of delivering the main message. The main characters were successful in expressing and stimulating correct emotional states. In addition, their charm and charisma enhanced the believability factor even more. Although the technical part had some minor problems with lighting and sound design, in general, every detail was in place. The costumes and props delivered an authentic experience, and the stage management led by Arianna Angeles demonstrated a high level of professionalism.