Systems: A Literal Interpretation of the Fourth Wall

Two cogs trapped in lives of utter futility behind the fourth wall. As years pass unnoticed, the two endure procrastination, incorrigible teasing, and new ways of being in this existential comedy.

A literal interpretation of the fourth wall by Milwaukee playwright Peter J Woods, produced by Insurgent Theatre Milwaukee's all original works upstart theatre company.

Directed by John Manno. Starring Tracy Doyle and Cynthia Kmak.



Systems is fresh from a three week run at The Alchemist Theatre in Milwaukee where it was accompanied by two other short plays. The Vital Source a Milwaukee paper reviewed it:

"Systems... featured the delightfully fresh and funny Tracy Doyle as the superficial Diawl and Cynthia Kmak as Mior, the perfect picture of today's modern worker lost in the system and trying to find a way out. A study in opposites, here two people pressed into the same lifestyle cope with futility, one thrives, the other squirms, frets and struggles to find meaning where there is none. Diawl, content to live a lifetime of redundancy, is cheery and playful, taunting her co-worker and companion in a space-age style version of the office cubicle. She jabs at Mior with impish glee as Mior strains to lift herself out of an existence devoid of promise. Beyond the Fourth Wall, where the light glimmers at the corners, Mior is convinced there must be something more. Encouraged by the light, she contemplates a new system and then another and another, casting each one down in turn when unable to defend them against the complacent, but undermining, Diawl... Like the character's task of rolling a silver ball in a circle, the story itself repeats and repeats thus making the character's immutable condition a shared experience one is relieved to finally terminate."

The cast

Tracy Doyle
Role: Diawl
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity."- Albert Einstein

Cynthia Kmak
Role: Mior

Showtimes

Mon., Aug. 4 @ 5:30 p.m.
Wed., Aug. 6 @ 8:30 p.m.
Thu., Aug. 7 @ 10:00 p.m.
Fri., Aug. 8 @ 7:00 p.m.
Sat., Aug. 9 @ 10:00 p.m.

Show details

Venue: U of M Rarig Center Xperimental

Duration: 60 minutes

For ages 12+

Written by Peter J Woods

From: Milwaukee, WI

Website: www.insurgenttheatre.org/projects/sy...

Genres: Comedy, Drama

Warnings: Adult language

Overall rating

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User reviews

Beyond Reason
by dixie treichel Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
Philosophy in theater is not dead but rarely seen. What a treat to see a non-linear, thought provoking play. Something far from reality TV & SNL riffs. A challenge to the audience to think and wonder beyond their personal fourth wall. Well written and performed. Go See.

Anything Goes
by Maria White Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
The play, Systems: A Literal Interpretation of the Fourth Wall, was not something I knew anything about when I went into it. In the show we meet two "women" who seem to have a job of rotating a silver ball around a plate and the character, Moir, can't take it anymore. She's unsatisfied. She tries new things to help her situation, fails miserably, and is constantly goaded by her partner, Diawl. I couldn't help thinking that there was much of this play I wasn't getting. I didn't understand why the two characters broke into romantic moments only to introduce a conflict of being uncomfortable being too close toward the end of the play. The play was wonderfully acted by it's two actors, Cynthia Kmak and Tracy Doyle. This pair has definite charism and Cynthia's climactic acting kept the story moving and emotional. Check this play out if you're in the mood for a strange, funny, and moving experience.

Much ado about something?
by re gurgitate Follow this reviewer
Rating 2 kitties
I saw this show as portraying persistence of artistic vision versus conformity. Or course I could be wrong. Never have I encountered so many words with so many interpretations. The actors were engaging, unfortunately the words they were saying were not.

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