One Man Star Wars (****)
Even
those who have never seen a stitch of Star Wars will still find Charlie Ross’
frantic recitation of the first three classic movies entertaining, if for
no other reason than to admire the huge amounts of endurance, concentration
and range required by such a project.
In an hour, Ross, who brought the play here from British Columbia, rollicks through the key scenes in the Star Wars story, including battles, kisses, revelations, and deaths, using his face and body as his only props, humming the score and depending on his own voice for sound effects.
He plays every character, including Han, Luke, Darth, Yoda, Jabba, R2 and ‘3P0. Each is immediately recognizable.
Key emotional scenes are reduced to the tiniest bits of dialogue, but somehow, that seems enough.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” asks Luke Skywalker of Obi-Wan
Kenobi, when he realizes that Darth Vader is actually his father.
“I forgot,” replies Kenobi.
It’s clear Ross, who also wrote the script, has watched Star Wars obsessively - some of his body movements exactly mimic certain cinematographic moments in the films.
Fans will surely lose themselves in remembering favorite scenes, so much so that they might not even realize that this little play is actually about men who refuse to grow up.
DG
Toronto Star
July 7, 2002
