Tomato Plant Girl Extra Credit

The night was full of excitement as my girlfriend Vika and I drove up to Daytona State to watch a play called "Tomato Plant Girl." It was a Friday night and we planed to go out afterward, and although this was a children's play and should be entertaining I had mixed feeling of whether I would enjoy it or not. As we pulled in I noticed many people in tuxes and formal dresses leading me to believe I was vastly under dressed for the nights festivities. Walking in I was releaved to over hear this formally dressed groups conversation of them just felling like dressing up for tonight. My fears were further calmed by seeing the casually dressed mixed crowd in the theater. There were people from across the spectrum of the ages in attendance this night. Little groups of 5-12 year old lined the bottom seats ringing the stage. A predominately middle aged crowd filled the middle seats, and late teens to mid twenties groups seemed to congegae in the upper seats.
The play started and it was immediately apparent that this play was focused on a younger audience due to its simple language, energetic mood, and cartoonish type set. Even though designed for kids, there were very adult themes of conflict resolution and peer pressure that could be related to the older audience members. Having a theater half full of kids was very interesting. They did not yet know their role as a western passive audience and there were outbursts and giggling throughout. The play did anticipate and incorporate this phenomenon by having the characters move amongst the crowd and even start a direct dialog  with them, creating a more active audience environment.
I found the play to be comical and actually had to restrain myself from laughing too loudly at times. The Tomato plant girl reminded me of someone i actually know, and her mannerisms and "idiotic actions" struck an unusually humorous chord with me. In the end I felt that the cast and crew put together a good show that definaly reached to their audience. In the 3/4 thrust stage I had a good vantage point to watch the audience's reactions and mannerisms. The kids rarely lost focus and seemed enthralled through out the play. After ward they were smiling and cheerful, almost like they had just left a popular children's movie. From the 20ish crowd I observed giggles and occasional whispers. The parents of kids in attendance smiled politely and regulated their children when they were getting out of hand. I had a hard time reading the older crowd. They seemed to enjoy the show but I think that they were a little disappointed that it wasn't a bit more serious. But that's just my read on it.
As we left Vika and I discussed the play, both agreeing that it was quite and funny. We met up with some friends at a sports bar and told them where we had just come from, and suggested that we all get hammered the next night and come and watch it again for a completely different and more "trippy" experience.