To better understand the show on its terms, I think you have to take what the authors are telling you their goals are, and build the best argument you can for how they achieved those goals. What elements in the writing and the production support and tell that story or experience? What journey do the characters go on that supports that story, and what does that tell you about humanity? If the show has a Big Message, what is it?
That’s a quick way to figure out the show’s intentions, and it also gives you an entry point to then evaluate how well it achieved its goals. Seeing what the creators intended, how well do you feel they pulled it off?
That’s a somewhat different question than why you didn’t like it. To then explore that, you can dig into your tastes and what you prize in a successful play. You might dig into some books or videos about story structure and dramaturgy, and you might also look at plays that you feel successfully told the story or experience that this show didn’t. |
