Theatre Review

I saw the Coppell High School Theatre production of Dividing the Estate on Monday, May 14, 2012. When I came into the show, my expectations were high. The last two Coppell HS Theatre productions that I viewed, Beauty and the Beast and Wiley and the Hairy Man, were outstanding, especially in the technical elements and special effects. But, Dividing the Estate was a bit of a disappointment. The show had no special effects and the set design did not function well.

The set of Dividing the Estate was simply boring, and some parts just did not make sense. The main entrance to the house looked like it was the outside of the house, even though it entered into the living room. The paint colors were very unrealistic, the royal blue color of the walls was distracting from the play, and difficult to look at. The floors in the dining room were painted very oddly, and I’m not really sure what they were going for. The one good element was the wood floors in the living room, they looked very realistic and fit the scene well. The arches hanging above the set also detracted from the play, and seemed unnecessary. The furniture in the living room seemed somewhat unrealistic for a Texas farmhouse. Overall the set seemed like a patchwork of random things collected from shows throughout the last few years.

The lighting was non-existent. It seemed as if there were two lighting cues in the whole show - one for before, after, and intermission, and one for during the play. The chandelier hung above the dining table was hung way too high and seemed unrealistic, and it seemed like it was never on at the right times. Overall the lighting was boring and nothing special.
Dividing the Estate was overall very exciting, and nothing special. The only enjoyable parts were the few funny lines thrown in from Doug.

Dividing the Estate runs through Tuesday, May 15 in the Coppell HS Black Box Theatre. Ticket price is $5 at the door. I would recommend this play to an older audience.