In a premier thirty minute episode, The Cell Theatre presented Tolerance Party: #1 : Ice Breakers” in a live stream Zoom format. Six strangers are brought together by an unknown entity for a group chat. After various hellos and “hi, hi’s” they get down to the task at hand. One of them asks, “Did everyone bring art supplies?”
They begin to create a self-portrait which should express how they feel about themselves within the world around them. That is certainly an interesting angle to consider in this current environment of monumental political strife, heightened tensions of racial inequality and a global pandemic. The group is asked to remain anonymous so whenever they share personal information such as a wife’s name, the data is bleeped.
The audience is also asked to be secretive and not use real names in the chat which occurs throughout the performance. The chat can often be highly entertaining such as when one person pointed out that “baby Yoda looks stressed.” I laughed out loud as the reference was clever and on point.
The six characters are a mixture of men and women, younger and middle aged. One lady who is referred to as “asterisks” is particularly kooky. Her self-portrait was done in advance. When she presents it at the end, you are reminded of the students in middle school who handed in a book report with an embellished cover. One audience member chatted, “we love an overachiever.”
In between the silliness and, frankly, dry spells, there are interesting questions considered. One section of this short play focused on the question “Why does language fail us?” Here’s an insightful answer: “I don’t think it allows for in betweens and spectrum and nuance.”
I don’t really have an idea where this series will be headed in the next episode. Apparently the audience chats will influence the fate of the characters in the future. As a first episode, this play was a short, quirky diversion. A little more time with the characters and more insight into their personalities should add the extra dimension required to sustain a multi-part serial.