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Chatham Life & Style

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Chatham Life & Style is a digital magazine based in central North Carolina. Since 2018, we have sought to amplify queer, neurodivergent, BIPOC, and women writers as they speak to and about our community through music & theatre reviews and events coverage. If you are interested in writing with us, please reach out.

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THEATRE REVIEW: RLT's "Balloonacy" Lifts Our Communal Spirits

November 12, 2020|Naveed Moeed, theatre

Kevin Roberge as the Old Man in "Balloonacy." Photo courtesy of Raleigh Little Theatre.
Kevin Roberge as the Old Man in "Balloonacy." Photo courtesy of Raleigh Little Theatre.

★★★1/2 by Naveed Moeed, contributor

Raleigh Little Theatre - Family Series

Stephenson Amphitheatre

Raleigh, NC

November 7 - 15, 2020 (rain dates: November 20, 21)

Saturdays at 10:30am, 1:30pm, and 3:30pm; Sundays at 1:30pm and 3:30pm

Runtime: 45 minutes; all performances are sensory friendly

Rating 3.5 out of 5 stars

Find more info and purchase tickets HERE. 


Decisions, decisions, decisions. At some point Heather Strickland, still in her first year as Executive Director at Raleigh Little Theatre, and Artistic Director Patrick Torres would have had to choose what to stage this fall and how to stage it. In the year of the pandemic, in a year of social distancing and isolation, in an election year, such decisions have never been more crucial.

Regular readers will know that when it comes to the questions “Why this play? Why now?”, I have ranted at length about poor decisions companies make. You will find no such rant here. As a means for catharsis, live performance is one way through which we can recognize our hurts and repair our souls. And reparation of the soul is exactly what Barry Kornhauser’s Balloonacy delivers. 

Kornhauser’s solo-performer show demonstrates how bringing life to a single, inanimate object can elevate the human spirit. The story follows an unnamed melancholy man, living alone in his apartment, as he tries to celebrate a birthday. However, he is interrupted by a surprising guest: a red balloon!  What happens next is both hilarious and touching as we follow his interaction with this unexpected visitor. At first annoyed, then gradually humored, and finally discovering a sense of unexpected companionship, the storyteller wordlessly conveys a spectrum of sentiments which bring his scene partner vividly to life. 

Socially-distant setup for "Balloonacy" in Raleigh's Stephenson Amphitheatre. Photo courtesy of Raleigh Little Theatre.
Socially-distant setup for "Balloonacy" in Raleigh's Stephenson Amphitheatre. Photo courtesy of Raleigh Little Theatre.

This emotional range is beautifully traversed by actor Kevin Roberge, who brings a career in clowning and mime fully to bear in his energetic and interactive performance. Roberge engages the entire set (designed in wonderful detail by Miyuki Su) and is ably assisted by the soundtrack (designed by Darby Madewell) to communicate the joys and challenges of this unusual birthday celebration. The surreal delight in this performance is typified by such moments as when the Old Man attempts to play hide and seek with “Red.” Placing the balloon judiciously in one location...only to have it magically reappear, somewhere unexpected!

Kudos must be given to Stage Manager Scott Wray and Assistant Stage Manager Danielle Welch, who no doubt worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure every startling reveal and technical surprise came right on cue. 

Despite sitting many feet apart from my fellow theatre-goers, the small miracle of this production was the intimacy that Director Jesse Gephart created. We were all in the apartment with our old man; laughing when he laughed, sad when he cried. At the age of forty-seven, I found myself suddenly seven again, hollering along with all the other kids and interacting with the Old Man. As the company’s first in-person performance since the pandemic, I could not have imagined a more curative return to the theatre. Thank you! -- N. Moeed


Naveed Moeed (he/him), contributor, is a British-born Pakistani and makes his home in North Carolina as an IT Business Development professional. An actor, producer, and photographer, Naveed volunteers with the American Friends Service Committee on issues of social justice and peacebuilding and serves on the Board of Directors for Raleigh-based Bare Theatre. Read all of Naveed’s CL&S articles HERE.

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