Arriving at the Rialto Theater Tuesday night, I was filled with anticipation; the off-Broadway smash hit, has finally arrived in Atlanta. This hillarious one-hour production written by Brenda Withers and Mindy Kaling, describes the charismatic and somewhat skewed relationship between and before they won their coveted Best Screenplay Oscar for their film, " ." Produced by Nederlander Worldwide, "Matt Ben" will be playing until October 2nd, and I highly recommentd you check it out.
The only negative aspect of the play occurs during the first five minutes of its opening, when the audience realizes that two women, yes women, are playing the lead characters. Quincy Tyler Bernstine plays Ben Affleck, while Jennifer Morris plays Matt Damon.
Performed without an intermission, both actresses gave an amazing and extremely comical preformance.
This however wasn't good enough to hold the interest of the audience at all times. The scenes involving and tended to drag on. They also tended to confuse the audience because these two characters seemed to come out of nowhere.
The actual portrayal of Matt and Ben wasn't what everyone was expecting. The ladies didn't look like their namesakes, which completely threw off the feel of the production. At times it was extremely difficult to imagine yourself watching Matt Damon and Ben Affleck during their college days.
Putting that aside, Bernstine and Morris had excellent chemistry and pulled off a great show.
Bernstien's portrayal of Ben as the aloof, slow and somewhat dumb half of the relationship, was extremely hillarious and potentially offensive for Affleck fans. Morris plays the more dramatic and serious half of the friendship.
She brings a sense of urgency and control to Matt, as he struggles to become a famous actor. The stage was set to mirror many college students' apartments; grungy furniture, an old computer and food and chip bags spread out everywhere. Although their personalities were drastically embellished, this catered to the comedic theme of the play.
No other actors were present on stage, as Bernstine and Morris played all four characters.
The entire plot surrounds the screenplay for "Good Will Hunting," which magically falls from the sky into Ben's apartment. This sparks chaos between the two friends, which unravels the core of their friendship.
The scene in which Matt and Ben run through some lines in the script was uproarious. The ending, however, brought a sentimental close to the production, and successfully drew the entire plot together. This under-the-radar play is true to its word.
It entertains the audience for a good hour and lets all those Peeping Toms get an inside look into one of the most famous friendships that exists in Hollywood today.
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