By Ernest Kearney — The CEO of disIncorporated, plunges into a room to razzle and dazzle his prospective consumers with a high powered corporate pitch to introduce his company’s newest item, destined to be what the Hula Hoop was to the fifties, what the pet rock was to the seventies, what sex was to the sixties.
But in The Last PowerPoint we don’t find ourselves in the presence of a Bill Gates or a Henry Ford. We don’t even find ourselves in the presence of a Henry Gates or a Bill Ford; we’re stuck with Prospective Ben for whom nothing seems to go right.
A powerless PowerPoint, an unfocused focus group and a sad sack entrepreneur whose mantra is:
Work—
Death —
Corporation.
These are the primary elements in Benjamin Nicholson’s perplexing, prancing and playful solo show that swings back and forth between an episode of Pee-Wee Herman’s Clubhouse and a capitalist riff on Waiting For Godot.
There is a good deal of silliness on stage here, a bit of Andy Kaufman, a bit of Harry Langdon. There is also a good deal of repetition.
But throughout it all, there is the sense of something beneath the surface. Nicholson’s ideas lack definition and form, but nevertheless there are ideas on the stage, and that I can tell you is a rarity.
In his first attempt at a theatrical undertaking, Nicholson shows himself a talent on the threshold. His writing is witty, his timing sharp, his performance solid; all of which makes The Last PowerPoint both intriguing and amusing. Yes, Nicholson’s show is not quite there, but there is undeniably a “there” there.
For that—
A SILVER MEDAL.
For Updated Show Information: http://hff19.org/6007
For Events, Plays and Other Fun Fringe News and Info: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/