The community had a laugh at the Vienna Theatre Company’s Fall Production of “Fat Kids are Harder To Kidnap” from Oct. 30 to 31 and then again from Nov. 6 to 7.
The show was originally written by Melissa Sim, director of How Drama, a theater company centered in Shanghai. The idea behind it is to perform 20 plays in only 30 minutes, with emphasis on audience participation.
The crowd calls out a number, and the actors present the play matching that number. The physical comedy-heavy skits utilized the small amount of props on stage in every scene.
The production featured sophomores Holly Waters and Emma Choi and seniors Caylin Elkins and Chris Chapin, along with Zophia Pryzby, a junior from South Lakes High School.
“I think it’s important for Marshall theater students to participate in community theater to encourage Vienna community members to come see future school productions,” Chapin said.
The five performers fed off of the audience’s energy, and it was this communication, along with the dissolution of the performer and non-performer barrier that kept the vivacity high. The animated and dynamic quality of the costumes and speech delivery kept the production in tune with the time constraints developed by the writer.
“The right kind of energy is really important for ‘Fat Kids,’ and that’s what I always look out for when casting,” Sim said. “This group is young and energetic and that really works for the show.”