This review was written by a TeenTix KC teen who is learning about arts journalism through the Press Corps, which provides teens with training and tools to respond to their arts experiences. TeenTix KC seeks to engage teens in the arts and amplify their voices. This may be the first time this teen has publicly expressed their opinion about an arts experience. Thank you for reading and supporting this teen’s development as an arts journalist.
The play Casey and Diana, written by playwright Nick Green and directed by Sidonie Garret, left me in awe (and in tears) when I went to see it at Unicorn Theatre. The story follows residents of the Casey House, Canada’s first AIDS hospice, preparing for the visit of Princess Diana.
Upon arriving at the Unicorn I was immediately greeted by a wall filled with all sorts of news articles, quotes, and information about the AIDS crisis. Reading all the factoids on display gave me in-depth context for the play, especially in terms of the public perspective. During the show, you constantly get a sense of the residents being looked down on; but reading through the newspaper articles really helps to get a sense of where the fear is coming from. Hearing all the negativity and fear around people affected by AIDS really helped me feel how important the visit from Princess Diana must have been for the residents.
The moment the lights come up you are immediately immersed with almost ethereal lighting by lighting designer Art Kent, which quickly sets the tone for the entire opening scene. Bright purple lights give a dreamy effect during the first scene of the resident Thomas’s interaction with Princess Diana, while pale yellow lights transfer you to the hospice itself. Throughout the play, especially in the last few scenes, the lighting was used as a primary conduit to convey emotions and help the audience understand dramatic transitions from place to place.
I especially enjoyed the first scene transitioning into the second. Thomas, played by Ernie Nolan, started by reminiscing about the arrival of the other resident Andre, played by Darrington Clark, just to immediately cut to the day of Andre’s arrival. Every single element of the play pays off in some form or another, with the beginning of the play directly paralleling the end. Especially in the end of the second act, you are constantly noticing elements that were referenced before, minor names that were mentioned offhandedly suddenly becoming major characters.
Another ingenious element of this play was the set design by Selena Gonzalez-Lopez. Sliding walls that close off the back section of the stage help focus the audience’s attention where it needs to be, while elements like the bench in the corner of the room can be reused over and over again in completely different settings—such as how the bench was first used to show Thomas in a park before later being used as a bench in a church. The set also had stained glass windows on the back walls, which for me really helped to enhance the emotional aspect of the play, as they contained many symbols, such as doves, that have heavy associations with love and freedom.
Casey and Diana was a masterful play with extremely well thought out characters and stunning visuals. This is not a light-hearted play by any means, but it will pick you up again after every punch to the heart, leaving you with a lasting moral of compassion in a world filled with fear.
Reviewed by TeenTix KC Press Corps member Mia Carpenter
TeenTix KC is a KC Studio initiative building a brighter future for our region by empowering young people to take an active role in shaping their arts community as audience members, critics, influencers, advocates, patrons and leaders. Any 13-19 year-old can become a TeenTix KC member by downloading a free pass which enables them to buy $5 tickets to participating arts venues across metro KC. Teens are encouraged to become critics and influencers by writing reviews and creating reels about the arts they experience using their TeenTix KC passes.
