6 entertainment
thecollegian
Feb. 9, 2018
Stockton Civic Theatre hosts Pulitzer play By Catlan Nguyen
S
Entertainment Editor
tockton Civic Theatre put on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Comedy play, You Can’t Take it With You by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman from Jan. 17 to Feb. 4 and it was directed by Rob Salas. Originally released on Broadway in 1936, the play follows the eccentric and fascinating adventures of the Sycamore family and their acquaintances in New York. Within the family there’s Grandpa Martin Vanderhof, Penelope Sycamore, Paul Sycamore and the Sycamore’s daughters Essie Carmichael and Alice Sycamore along with Essie’s husband, Ed Carmichael. The story revolves around the out-of-the-ordinary interactions between Alice and her newly found boyfriend, Tony Kirby. All of the actors’ portrayals of their roles worked well together making the audience truly feel like they were watching a wacky family in real life. Standout actors included Esther Henderson who played Essie, the aspiring ballerina. Her ability to purposefully dance in a cringe worthy manner multiple times throughout the play during some ensuing
chaos behind her without breaking character was commendable. Henderson had something in common with her character. “I’ve actually been dancing since I was about two years old, so that’s been about 17 years now and I feel like I have gotten better over the course of my life. And my name’s Esther so- Essie and Esther when I was cast I was like ‘Oh that’s really cool!’” Heidi Gremel, who played Penelope Sycamore, was also a standout actress because of her ability to make every line seem as natural as possible while expressing exactly how Penelope Sycamore would react through her facial expressions. Gremel truly brought to life the supportive and hobby-collecting mother. The obvious crowd favorite was Cindy Braden who played Gay Wellington, the drunken actress friend of Mrs. Sycamore. With her blacking out scenes to her trying to kiss every character in her sight when she was awake, Braden had every audience member dying of laughter. “What I most relate with Kirby is that he believes in the good in people. He appreciates people for just who they are regardless of whether or not it’s
From left, actors Alejandro Gomez, Joey A.G. Vincent, J.C. Costa, R. Israel Rodriguez, Cindy Braden, Shawn Carrington, Heidi Gremel, Martin Lehman, Judy Caruso Williamson, Sarah Spenker, Esther Henderson and Joey Dalonzo at Stockton Civic Theatre in Stockton on Feb. 2. PHOTO BY CATLAN NGUYEN
what he’s doing in life. Instead of making you into someone that he’s used to, he just accepts you,” said R. Israel Rodriguez, who played Tony Kirby. Set Designer Brian Scott Johnson created a detailed and visually stunning set inside of Martin Vanderhof ’s home. Every prop and decoration was impeccable from the stairs to Mrs. Sycamore’s typewriter to Grandpa’s collection of snakes. The set worked in conjunc-
tion with the lighting and sound from when Alice would “turn on” the lights in her living room to whenever someone was at their door, ringing the doorbell. Another notable element of the play was the accurate and lavish costumes done by Costume Designer Jennifer Barker Gatze. Olga Katrina’s regal duchess dress and wrap looked straight from Russia’s royal archives and Essie’s formal dance attire
was fitting for the most prestige ballet performance. Overall, the lighting, sound, set and costumes complemented the plot and actors without overpowering them. Stockton Civic Theatre’s next play will be Dead Man’s Cell Phone which will run from April 25 to May 12. Tickets for upcoming shows can be purchased at sctlivetheatre.com.
Loot Boxes create controversy in gaming community By Killian Barnhart Managing Editor
When Pong was released in 1972, nobody believed two paddles would be ground zero for a multi-billion-dollar entertainment industry spanning across the globe. Video games have become one of the largest pillars of modern entertainment, with Grand Theft Auto 5 selling 11.21 million copies on the first day. That’s $815.7 million made within 24 hours. Add in the micro-transactions in the game’s online feature that allows players to exchange real cash for large quantities of it’s digital counterpart, and you’ve got profit on steroids. However, micro-transactions in video games have been under fire by the very audience these games are tailored to for some time. The audience contends micro-transactions have caused publishers to push out incomplete games, or games with pay-to-win functions, rewarding play-
ers based more on what they pay over how well they play the game. “We should have to get to a certain level to get what we want, instead of paying money for this certain item. That’s what I like in games, like how they did it in the old days,” said Delta Student Treyvion Bonner. The problem was inflamed last year, during the demo period of Electronic Arts’ Star Wars: Battlefront II. The game offered players the ability to purchase an in game loot box or Crate as the feature is called, for items usable in the game. This is nothing abnormal, as game developers usually program cosmetic items such as character costumes, color palettes, animations etc. inside of them. “If I have the extra money sitting around, then yeah, I’ll buy a cosmetic. But if it’s like ‘oh I already bought this and now I have to turn around and buy that too,’ then no I couldn’t do it,” said Kaevon Shearer, another Delta student. However, in Star Wars the loot boxes would also come with upgrades for the players trooper, star fighter and
hero classes that would substantially affect game play online, the more powerful the upgrade. For example, a trooper class could be upgraded so that it’s laser weapon will cool down faster, requiring less reloads. A hero class, Han Solo for example, can be upgraded to increase it’s weapons fire rate for several seconds with each consecutive headshot. The only way to obtain these upgrades was to purchase one of the loot box options. “What’s fair about games like Dead by Daylight is that even if you don’t buy those new characters and perks that come out, they still let you get them through the Blood Shrine. You can earn points and purchase these items. That’s what makes it fair, you grind for it,” said Bonner. The controversy forced EA to temporarily remove all micro transaction options in the game before release. The damage was already done. The controversy brought the concept of loot boxes to the attention of various governments across the world, includ-
ing: Britain, Norway and the United States, who are looking into whether or not this is gambling. You purchase a loot box in the hopes of progressing in game or gaining some edge over other players but the contents are randomly generated and nothing is guaranteed. “You can put in a $1000 and not get anything, that’s pay to win or pay to lose … if they guaranteed rare items at least in every box, I’d say it’s okay. But then they can give you one guarantee and two common items. What’s the point?” said Bonner. Bill 6266, written by three Washington State Senators Kevin Ranker, Reuven Carlyle and Karen Keiser met with the Senate Committee of Labor & Commerce on January 31st. Bill 6266 would have the Washington State Gambling Commission study the use of loot boxes in game and determine whether or not they should be considered gambling by the states law. Several more states are also looking into this, including North Carolina, Hawaii, Connecticut, Minnesota and Georgia.
Emojis open Saudi Arabia to movies after years without By Chanelle Muerong Opinion Editor
In the 1980s, movie theaters were shut down in Saudi Arabia during a wave of ultra-conservatism in the country. In December, the 35-year-old ban was lifted thanks to the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Up until now, the citizens had to travel to a neighboring places such as Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and other countries, according to uk.reuters.com. While the idea of showing commercial movies were allowed, the Crown Prince still needed to pick films that would remain within the kingdom’s moral values. So the children’s films “The Emoji Movie” and “Captain Underpants,” were shown during the double screening in a makeshift theater.
“ I understand they chose those because of moral values. But what’s the point of lifting a ban just to show something that’s censored and geared towards children? You might as well have the ban... also I think that those movies do have subliminal messages hidden in them so are they really censored?” said Shaleen Chand, a Delta student when asked about what she thought about the lift on the ban. Another student, Jennifer Nguyen, had a different opinion. “I think these choices are fine. This shows that their society is slowly changing,” said Nguyen. According to the Reuters website, the first permanent theaters could open as early as March 2018. NBC News reported this lift on the ban was included in a list of things that the Prince was determined in changing, such as allowing women to drive, bringing back concerts and other forms of entertainment.