By Vanessa Turpin
50 minutes | Comedy, Drama, Solo | PG
We’ve all been there. Many of us are still there. Trying to answer the trite question “what is life after college?”
Eric Jaffe (playwright and performer) explores the value of a college education and the struggle to choose a meaningful career post-grad in C-, a solo performance act based off of 65 interviews with the playwrights’ former fraternity brothers.
Jaffe dives into character to tell the story of a few men he met in college, focusing in particular on a few familiar names from his past: Zachary, who plagiarized a paper and didn’t get caught, “The Sponge” and “Mules” who (if you can’t tell by their nicknames) were both stoners who valued partying and getting laid over attaining good grades.
Jaffe is jocular in a kind of clever fratboy way. The humour is a little crass at times, but not over the top, and Jaffe is an excellent storyteller. On stage he is relaxed, captivating, and commands the audience’s attention with ease. Many laughs were to be had from his effortless jokes and relatable storyline about how perspectives change as you age.
The production made little use of props, lighting and music, which I feel could have helped make the transition between characters a bit more clear. While Jaffe switched between accents and put on a hat on during the portrayal of one character, at times it was lost to me whom he was portraying, if not speaking from his own experience.
Overall, C- features palpable, sophomoric humour worth checking out if you can relate to being tortured by the choice of what to major in, when the only thing you want to do is have a good time!
At least from this reviewer, C- gets a passing grade.
C- plays at the ODD Box theatre,. Next showings; June 22 9:30 p.m., June 24 9:30 p.m. and June 26 3:00 p.m.
Tickets are $12.
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