MOB at WWPT - When words online do more damage than sticks and stones...

 Last night I took in MOB presented by Workshop West (WWPT). When first announced, I was going because the phenomenal Kristin Johnston was in it but I couldn't tell much about the show from the promotional material. A chance conversation a few weeks ago with another theatre artist about the show's subject matter made me even more interested. The show deals with the fallout after a woman is relentlessly harassed online by anonymous trolls that spew the vilest of the vile at her and she has no legal way to shut them down. Her solution is both an escape from her ruined life and attempt to seek some sort of redress. 

It's a tough watch, but really, really good. You have to have the stomach for it. The online warning (While keeping you and our actors safe, this show contains coarse language, sexual themes, nudity, violence, emotionally charged scenarios, and may deal with subjects which are personally challenging to you. We use strobe effects and water-based theatrical fog throughout) is completely true, and depending on someone's personal connection to the situations revealed, it may affect people with a range of reactions. The performances from the cast of three (Johnston as Sophie, Graham Mothersill as Martin, and Davina Stewart as Louise) are all excellent and complex. A terrific Set, created by designer Beyata Hackborn, works so well with the lighting (Alison Yanota) and those combined with the Sound design by Darrin Hagen. The mood and tone created by how those elements work together is outstanding. It's a wild ride with a an ending that is both awful and satisfying (and then makes you feel a bit awful for enjoying it). This is a show to definitely see this season and particularly if you, like myself, spend a lot of your time online. It's the cautionary tale of today. 

I think I connected so strongly to this show because I have been exposed to a certain amount of online vitriol in my former job as Marketing Manager for a local theatre (cancel a lecture for a national right-wing speaker with no justification and see what kind of online response that provokes - as the person reading and dealing with the online feedback on that, I went home and woke up with an upset stomach for weeks). As a individual, I have expressed what I thought were small, unimportant opinions on things and had rudeness and mocking from online acquaintances written at me. Many of those people wouldn't think they were doing anything wrong. I'm sure I have posted rude things myself when angry or upset. I try not to, but it's quite likely I have. The online world sometimes feels unreal, but the impact of our words there is very, very real... 

MOB plays at the Gateway Theatre until November 12th. Tickets range from $32-$53. You can purchase tickets here.



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