Water by the Spoonful
TheatreSquared
Studio Theatre at Walton Arts Center’s Nadine Baum Studios
505 West Spring St.
Fayetteville, Ark.
October 15 – November 8, 2015
By Quiara Alegría Hudes
Directed by Seth Gordon
Role: chutes&ladders
In the anonymous crack addict recovery chatroom with OranguTan (Monique Kim), fountainhead (Zac Hoogendyk), and Haiku Mom (Yadi Correa). (PHOTO: Elizabeth Barnes)
chutes&ladders provides emotional support to OranguTan (Monique Kim) as she searches for her birth mother in Japan. (PHOTO: Elizabeth Barnes)
About to get his water wings, chutes&ladders takes a risk, making travel plans between office calls at the IRS. (PHOTO: Elizabeth Barnes)
Critical Response
“Conveying, translating and then staging the faceless anonymity of the Internet is a difficult task for any theatrical production, but Water by the Spoonful and Seth Gordon’s direction for TheatreSquared take you into that world rather inventively and convincingly. . . . TheatreSquared, they prove again with Water by the Spoonful, invests all effort into providing professional work. That also includes bringing in a fresh roster of talent for the production. None of the actors involved in the current rendition of Water by the Spoonful have appeared in a previous TheatreSquared production. There’s some real talent there. . . . I caught chills more than once, and not just because the dialogue had silenced the room so thoroughly you could hear the venue’s ventilation system buzzing quietly in the background. Some 12 hours removed from my viewing of Water by the Spoonful, I’m still haunted by some of the elements.”
—Kevin Kinder, Fayetteville Flyer, October 16, 2015
“Chatroom users Orangutan (Monique Kim) and Chutes&Ladders (Johnny Lee Davenport) become friends through chatting and, after helping each other out for so long online, decide to meet in person to form a real friendship. . . . I was blown away with how TheatreSquared’s production of Water By The Spoonful captures such a hard topic yet had enough light hearted relief.”
—Nicole Nark The Arkansas Traveler: The Companion, October 20, 2015
“Johnny Lee Davenport, a struggling crack addict, has multiple powerful monologues that truly sets this play apart from others. His straight-forward attitude allows the audience to see the pain of his addiction. As well as Yadi Correa, who runs the online chat room as Yazmin Ortiz, another character that has powerful character development. Although these characters never meet face to face, their dialogue throughout the play is harsh and honest, yet inspiring.”
—Brenon Hawley, The Idle Class, October 23, 2015