Laughter, bad acting, and a cat costume; the main criteria for the Cannon Falls theater production this spring, Bad Auditions by Bad Actors. Performed by the Cannon Falls schools’ theater troupe on May 15 and 16, the show was an absolute success. This comes after a decrease in the number of participants going out for theater in the past few years, with many talented actors graduating and fewer joining the program. Despite this, the theater production this year was a hilarious and well-produced show that brought laughs to audience members of all ages.
Bad Auditions by Bad Actors, by Ian McWethy, is the story of aspiring director Carol Danes (played by Morgan Jacobson) who is tasked by her boss, Avery Stern (Tristan Pedersen), with putting on the show Romeo and Juliet to save the failing Red Barn Theatre. She is accompanied by Stern’s allegedly drug-addicted nephew, Roger (Tucker Nobach), to find the perfect casting for the production. However, every audition gets progressively worse, ranging from yelling “macho” man, Joe Romano (Tyler Brown), to chronic bank robber, Quint (Axel Lundell). The show was directed by Annie Pedersen, sound was managed by Aedyn Byrnes, and the light technician was Tyson Farr.
The casting this year was exceptional, made up of only a few high schoolers and mainly underclassmen. Tech was also extremely well done, with every scene flowing together well. There were very few technical issues, and those that occurred were hardly noticeable by the audience. The viewers were truly immersed in the show, and the aforementioned Quint even circumvented the auditorium seats to evade his pursuer, the police officer (Kennedy Dettman).
The actors in this show displayed incredible talent, and it was obvious to audience members that the entire group had worked hard on the performance. Every single role was played to near perfection, and it was truly wonderful acting for a young group of students. The comedy did not fail in humoring the audience, and the auditorium was filled with laughter.
It is clear that the Cannon Falls theater program is reshaping itself; however, this has not stopped them from putting on phenomenal performances year after year. There is no doubt that with this promising group of talented actors, the theater productions will only continue to get better in the coming years. Needless to say, the Cannon Falls theater group is wonderful at bad acting.
