Chasing the New White Whale

See it if Story between moby dick and addiction was muddled. If you want a new concept play.

Don't see it if Where the music drowns out the actors.you want a show that ties out properly.

See it if you want to see a dramatic evocation of the current opioid crisis.

Don't see it if you want to see a play, not a visually inventive pageant of vaguely related abstractions.

Also Over the course of "Chasing the New White Whale," cast members wheel into a cavernous playing space a series of small but majestic boats that sit on platforms at varying heights, some that come all the way up to the level of the audience seated in the balcony. The effect is thrilling. A live soundtrack, for guitar & percussion, at times evokes the nautical but never in a hokey way. A few performers are standout, especially Victoria A. Villier in a thankless role. All the characters remain abstractions, a fatal flaw in a script that calls for reforming how we treat people whose lives are touched by drug addiction. Never in this parade of abstractions, lifted from Melville or, more often, figures in a loose scenario about present-day fishermen (& the girls that love them) is the addict’s life presented even remotely. A preacher in his pulpit, asking us time & again to reconsider our drug policy, gives us no particulars. This is drug problem by hearsay & in the theater that’s not enough.... Read more Read less

See it if you like experimental theater done in a huge space that is well-used by a talented cast with great music.

Don't see it if you want a solid story - it doesn't come together in the end and the hard folding chairs are not kind. Program is digital only.

See it if You are really interested in Moby Dick. Or opioid addiction. You are better at making sense of confusing shows than I am.

Don't see it if You like shows to be coherent. It was dramatic. There were interesting enough characters. I have no idea what was happening.

See it if .. you're interested in seeing an ambitious attempt to whaling with and opioid crisis... which falls short of coherence.

Don't see it if you don't like experimental theater

See it if you like being preached to; you support indie experiments; "Moby Dick" by Melville is a favorite book; the fishermen's problems interest you

Don't see it if you like linear narratives; you'd like to understand how addicts get addicted; you prefer a cohesive plot with actions & consequences

Also Runtime = 85 mins [not 2 hrs].
Playwright Michael Gorman, as the Chaplain, preaches to us about the opioid epidemic. It's a serious issue. But a play is supposed to dramatize not simplify -- to show not tell.

NO printed program nor a digital version, so bear with me as I refer to characters.

Flaw: Addiction is presented as circumstantial in CTNWW. RAY [actor Mark Daly] in overalls & rubber boots, who hires commercial fishing boats to transport drugs + guns, is the go-to guy for those who need a job or $$ to buy a boat. Upon meeting anyone, RAY immediately offers a line of cocaine. Everyone takes a big sniff -- neither declining nor reflecting. This is ridiculous.

Flaw: From this casual start, a fisherman becomes "addicted." However, we do not see the consequences of drug dependency, cravings, a physical decline, etc. Therefore, it becomes a hollow demonstration without any drama.

Flaw: Many moving parts & no one to root for.

Best seats = side of the horseshoe... Read more Read less

See it if You want to see a show with not much of a story but that tries to find parallels between Moby Dick and opioid addiction

Don't see it if You like your shows with a clear story and message. This one is sadly quite confusing

See it if You are interested in an analagous play about addiction and Captain Ahab's chase of Moby Dick. You need to make the connection.

Don't see it if You can't think outside the box.

See it if you like to see a production with great staging and a profound topic that is not what you would usually expect.

Don't see it if You're not looking for something different and deep or you're looking for something frivolous.

See it if N

Don't see it if N

See it if you're a member of the niche community of commercial fishermen affected by drug use.

Don't see it if you like stories that tell more than one side and have female characters with their own, independent arcs.

See it if you like a unique production with a nice score, and interesting back story

Don't see it if you want to come away with a moving theater experience

Also This production has some great visual effects, and is very well acted.... plus a very nice music score and the show was pretty tight. I REALLY wanted to be moved by the story, but when it ended I felt that I didn't learn anything and (even more important) wasn't emotionally moved.... Read more Read less