“Under Construction,” a play written by Charles L. Mee, directed by David M. Long, made its debut as the first play of Mary Moody Northen Theatre’s 40th anniversary season.

Although acted beautifully, the play fell flat at times. The non-linear production was intended to combine comedy, poignant moments and an overarching message about the changing attitudes of what it means to be an American throughout its 22 scenes.

Instead, the overall experience was jarring. There were moments that nearly brought tears and times where stifling your laughter was necessary; however, right before you began to enjoy a moment it was on to the next.

Connections from one scene to the other surely existed, but it required the audience to try too hard to make those connections. In ways, it seemed like the play wanted to say too much to the audience for the brief hour and fifteen minutes it ran.

The original play has many more scenes, and although it is perfectly reasonable to cut a play for time, scenes that could have given a fuller picture of what being an American and the American dream means were left off. For example, LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning) characters made no appearance, unlike in the full version of the play.

The play did have bright moments. Junior Hannah Marie Fonder and senior Matthew Garcia made quite an impression in their scene that showed a relationship from the first date to a despondent marriage. The scene had the right mixture of comedy and drama.

This scene made an obvious impression on the audience. Onlookers could not contain their laughter and appeared teary-eyed by the end of the scene.

Other gems include senior Tyler Mount in his portrayal of a drive-in movie viewer struggling to find the right car to return to. Mount presented great comedic timing throughout the scene. The drive-in movie scene was one of the strongest performances from the cast.

Senior Mitch Harris made an impression as a timid date. Senior Lindsley Howard nicely complimented Harris’ character as the date that wanted more than she was getting.

The production staff certainly had their hands full. The props provided were both versatile and relevant to all the scenes. Additionally, the scene design proved to be of multiple uses. The music flowed nicely as a backdrop for the play.

That being said, the music occasionally overpowered the voices of the actors and actresses. The choreography provided some stirring and hilarious dance scenes. Throughout the play the make-up and hair design of the actors accurately reflected the time period, quite a feat in such a fast-paced play. The numerous costumes also appropriately represented the time period of the scene and signaled the change of an actor or actress to another character. Additionally, the lighting fit the scenes well and did not miss a beat.

Overall the play left me with mixed feelings. I left wanting more–not because of how much I enjoyed it–because I felt like the heart and connective tissue of the play had been gutted.