Nat Duo Final Round

[airpezman]

I was not at Nationals, but I am finding a lot of the results interesting. I had a pretty good feeling that Logan's "Having Our Say" would final as well as "BatBoy". I knew that BatBoy had won Glenbrooks.

However, I have a few questions on the duo final round.

1. What about BatBoy made it shine above the rest?2
2. Was there a balance or did one of the partners carry the other?
3. What are reasons a naturalistic drama such as Torch Song didn't win?

4. What did you learn about Duo by this round?

pez

[dopplegangermavn]

Batboy...
I'm wondering if this is from the off-Broadway show by the same name. What were the characters' names, and what was the general plot?

[lucky17]

Yes, the piece from finals was a cutting from the off-Broadway play. What a script! :)

[dopplegangermavn]

Sweet wounded Jesus.

That's simultaneously amazing and astounding and...*kerfubble*
:lol: How'd they do it? Doesn't seem possible...

[bigpoppatulls]

Ah HELLO?

What about the witches?
I think they did a darn (would have used an alternate word but then would have gotten in trouble with the adm so darn is the best I gots!) good job, were obviously the crowd favs and so therefore should be grand national champions! SO HA!

[KY_Extemper]

I gave the witches piece 4th in the round b/c it confused me a bit. Anyway, the final round showcased two styles of duo: those with the creative "gimmicks" and those that appealed emotionally. Duo is one of my favorite categories @ NFL (mostly b/c there isn't a use of the books) but there are some people I talk to that don't like how it's clearly becoming split between gimmick Broadway style and acting. I don't necessarily agree with those concepts but I do have a feeling that the pieces keep expanding so much in the realm of movement and design that it's reaching the pinnacle of where it's headed before a backlash of some sort ensues.

[the durango kid]

For the most part, I agree with that. I had qualifed to nats in duo the previous 2 years to this ( I went in congress this year) and have noticed a similar thing. But I think what we will see is a stylized version of Hegals dialectic. We have the "thesis" (acting duos, the originals) and the "antitheis" (flashy, tekniks pieces). Eventualy we will see a fusion of the two. I predict that eventually pieces that want to appeal to a broader audience will incorperate both of the aspects and we will see less of a dictomotmy of geners. A good example of this was last years "Bartolomew and the Ooblek". I think it was flashy to a degree, but it didn't get distracting. Meanwhile, it was briliantly acted. Another good example of this was a piece I saw last year at nationals, "Metamosphoses". While they didn't break (travesty! missed by one point), the were the perfect from of what I'm talking about. Like anything competeive, the event will evolve only based on what works. Darwinian principals are ruthless, so the future of the event is the hands of the judges. I just hope that any "backlash" we might see will not undermine the progress that has been made and the event does not go to far into the realm of slapstick.

[KY_Extemper]

Ha! It's a good thing someone sort of sees my point of view. I agree with everything you said and the "Bartolomew & the Ooblek" duo I thought should have won last year for the same reason you mentioned above. Additionally, my whole view of NFL events is that almost everything is being pushed to the brink with singing being done quite a bit in DI and jokes/fluency overtaking analysis in extemporaneous speaking. I do believe, though, that across the board progress has been made in all events to help them reach a wider audience and I hope also that any sort of "backlash" doesn't impair this progress.