The Book Club Play at The Inspired Acting Co.

October 2024

The Book Club Play presented by The Inspired Acting Company (a 501c3) in Walled Lake, Michigan, https://www.inspiredacting.org/ was tremendously entertaining.  The writing was exceptional.  The cast and crew are certainly seasoned professionals... or if they're not, they fake it well!  The pacing was wonderful, and the performers seamlessly slipped into their roles.  Suspension of disbelief was well achieved within the first five minutes.  I was impressed with the cast's playfulness with each other.  I felt like these people knew and respected each other well; both as characters and as a company.  The direction was well done, and the blocking appropriately used the set to include the entire audience.  The designer's use of a single set played well with this script. The lighting and interlude music perfectly enhanced each scene's mood, and the use of the digital picture frame on the set wall not only as set decoration, but as a scene transition tool was an added delight.  Overall, it was an extraordinary performance.

​The Book Club Play is a fun voyeuristic experience of the shenanigans of a six-member book club who are being filmed for a reality-show style documentary as they select, read, and discuss various books… just as any book club might, sans camera.  The story introduces us to the characters who, while gaining greater understanding of the books they select, also learn more about each other and themselves.  It’s a delightful comedy, with several laugh-out-loud moments, tempered well with just as many introspective moments, making for a well-balanced show.  As an author and book lover, I was impressed by the playwright’s ability to sneak in references to 31 different books, either by title, plot, or character, and in some cases, all three.  These literary landmarks made this show highly relatable and engaging for me.  Most especially, the added book club questions on the back page of the program helped me feel a part of the discussion, even after the house lights came up.

​I would not have imagined that a theatre company could create a positive theater-going experience in a space anchoring a strip mall (with plenty of free parking), but The Inspired Acting Company does it masterfully.  The space is incredibly well-designed.  I don't think there’s a bad seat in the house.  I enjoyed the intimacy of the theatre.  Fewer seats in the house allowed me to focus on the play, rather than become distracted by a large crowd. The cushioned chairs were comfortable.  The thrust stage design enticed the audience to feel closer to the show.  The actors used the stage space with a relaxed style that removed barriers to audience engagement.  I appreciated the use of a more subdued sound system; hearing the actors voices more naturally rather than pumped through an overpowering speaker system made me feel a part of the performance rather than feeling disconnected at a distance. The cast, crew, director, and producer should be praised for creating a theatre company that is technically and artistically well-conceived, and a truly joyful experience.