Anything Goes Play Review Essay

On Thursday, February 20th, I finally saw my first college play. Unlike the majority of plays I’ve seen in the past, Anything Goes actually caught my attention for once. Musicals and plays were big in my high school, but East Central took it to the next level in terms of talent and preparation. After watching the play, I came to the conclusion that Mrs. Grace Austin did a wonderful job as the director, putting on an intriguing show. I’m no expert in terms of set design, but I was really impressed with how real it looked. While watching the play, I could easily imagine myself being on that ship. What made it look most lifelike was the lifesavers hanging up alongside the walls of the ship’s staircases, and the authentic looking wood making up parts of the ship. Opposite of the set design, I thought that the lighting could actually have been a little better. While there was nothing actually wrong with the lights, I think there was room for improvement. The lights were very simple throughout most of the play, which is sometimes good, but there could have been more color and movements with the lights to make it more exciting. The spotlight, however, was perfect. As for special effects, there was nothing noticeable besides the lights. Good thing that the play had decent lighting, that way the audience was able to see the perfectly fitting costumes. Everyone was mostly dressed up and looking nice to match the luxury theme. I liked everything about the costumes, but I didn’t get why the angel costume was red. It would have made more sense to be in white, but did not make much of a difference. All of these things came into play to make a pretty good performance. The main characters were Riley Dunn who played Billy, Sam Rodgers who played Hope, Lee Garner who played Evelyn, and Sarah Hopp who played Reno. Overall, Anything Goes turned out to be a pretty good story line. And thanks to the ECC casting crew and Mrs. Grace Austin, they provided a high quality production that I wouldn’t mind seeing again. Even being critical, I would give ECC’s production of Anything Goes a 7 out of 10. It was enjoyable to watch.