8-Track A HIT at Seacoast Rep !

8-Track is a hit at Seacoast Rep, Portsmouth, NH. Directed by Craig Faulkner, the production will feature hot local talent. Artistic Director is John McCluggage.

Review:

'8-Track' is fab at SRT

Portsmouth Herald

Do you remember being really proud that you had in your home or car that highest form of technology an 8-Track?

Were you ever absolutely sure that those nasty little cassette things could never take over from your beloved 8-Track? Then you are definitely someone who will know almost all the words, music and dance moves to every song featured in 8-Track, The Sounds of the 70's, the show that opened recently at The Rep.

This is one stunning little show. Even if you have no idea whatsoever what an 8-track is or what it looks like and think the Partridge Family is a genus of birds, the enthusiasm of the four person cast and the wonderful presentation values will carry you along on one of the most enjoyable rides the Seacoast theater scene has been treated to in a long while. This is truly a show for everyone.

There is no storyline, no book and yet through the choice of music and its dispersal throughout the evening, the tale of a somewhat lost age surfaces. It isn't mandatory that you know what happened during those long ago times, though for those who do it will at times be singularly poignant, you will understand the feelings just from the lyrics, the dances and the attitudes of the cast.

Whether you want to or not you will end up singing along under your breath (or even softly out loud) tapping your feet to the beat, or, even, dancing in your seat Uniformly their voices are a joy to listen to. They bring a freshness and vibrancy to all of these old numbers that can convince you that you are listening to them for the first time.

The setting is wonderfully colorful. The backdrop is at one moment a vista of nighttime stars, the next a daytime extravaganza of delicate clouds. The stage contains a series of curved platforms ranging from one as wide as the stage curving within a couple of feet of the front row, to side rises two feet to three feet in height. The decor is intense and looks nothing so much as if the designer had liquefied a Rubik's Cube and squirted it out from a place on the central upstage bar-height console, to curve out in a sensually attractive pattern which hides some surprises.

If you are a Baby Boomer bring your children, they may get to understand Mom and Dad just a little better. Of course it might come as a shock to think you might have been just like the characters on stage