Augustana College’s How I Learned to Drive offers an interesting opportunity to compare the acting talents of performers at different points in their lives, as there’s a marked contrast between Reader editor Mike Schulz’s work and that of the students who compose the rest of the cast. Being beyond college-age (and hired here as a guest actor), Schulz is presumably more aware of the darkness in the world, the pain of real life, and the reality of what some would call sin. I imagine he's subsequently able to draw from what he knows and use it to shape his character, whereas it’s apparent that the students are feigning their feelings. To be clear, that’s not to say that the students are poor actors, and each one offered a notable performance during Friday’s presentation. Compared to Schulz’s effort, however, there are distinct differences in the sincerity of their portrayals.

New Ground Theatre’s Bad Habits is one of those rare local productions where the focus is on the writers rather than the actors, directors, or technical aspects. While a cast and crew, of course, are involved, the work gathers short plays written by local playwrights. Running a touch more than an hour, Thursday’s performance showcased the promise of these local wordsmiths, while also revealing areas on which they need to focus as they work on their next pieces – the most notable being writing as people would actually speak.

Sydney Crumbleholme is maturing. Not only is she physically more mature than the impressive young acting prodigy I fondly recall from the Playcrafters Barn Theatre’s Anne of Green Gables four years ago, she’s also much more skilled as an actress – and that “much more” is particularly impressive considering that Crumbleholme’s previous work was astounding, particularly for her age. In her return to the title role of Playcrafters’ current production, Anne of Avonlea, Crumbleholme shows distinct growth as an actress, showcasing knacks for nuance and subtlety. She alone is worth the money and time spent seeing the show.

I adore the movie version of Grease, and think it's one of the few musicals in which the film is an improvement on the original stage version. The theatrical musical is less cohesive in terms of the timelime's flow, forcing the audience to fill in the gaps between scenes, and I kind of hate that about it – unless a stage production transcends the script's weakness, in which case, like the movie, I love it. However, while I did not hate Friday's performance of Grease at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, I didn't exactly love it, either.