Menu
Wesley Cheng Home
  • Home
    • Environment
    • Literature
    • Movie Review
    • Philosophy
    • Politics
    • Racism
    • Sports
    • Technology
    • Television
    • Theater
  • About Me
  • Resume
  • Contact
Wesley Cheng Home

Review: The Unlikely Ascent of Sybil Stevens

Posted on February 23, 2014May 15, 2021 by Wesley

The Unlikely Ascent of Sybil Stevens is an entertaining exploration of the complexities of becoming a limited vortex public figure in the Internet age and the dangers that can go with it.

The play centers around Sybil Stevens (Jennifer Gordon Thomas), a flight attendant who is the lone survivor of a plane crash in Wyoming where all 256 passengers but her have perished. She is rescued by emergency worker Joe (Sean Williams), who is going through personal struggles of her own. Stevens’ nephew and recovering drug addict Derek (Jordan Tierney) assumes caretaker duties, and also becomes her personal publicist. Stevens denies all media requests, but that doesn’t stop wannabe-Oprah Tessa MacKenzie (Yeauxlanda Kay) and her researcher Valerie (Samatha Fairfield Walsh) from attempting to, and ultimately, booking the exclusive interview.

Things predictably go awry on MacKenzie’s show when skeletons are released from the closet in part because of a revealing, impromptu meeting between Valerie and Derek. Instead of attempting to minimize the chaos, Joe unexpectedly joins in on the interview and immediately immortalizes it. Suddenly, Stevens is embroiled in numerous scandals and controversy and is unsure of her next step.

For this play to work, the protagonist has to be endearing to the audience. Otherwise, the endless calamities that intrude on her life will fall on deaf ears.

Fortunately, Thomas’ portrayal of Stevens makes her likable and easy to relate to. She is the aunt in the family that everyone enjoys being around. She drinks beer. She watches baseball. She holds an exciting job and a steady life. She is uninterested in the media storm that is around her. She shirks her fame despite all of the pressures around her because she simply doesn’t care about it, which, in turn, only endears her more to the audience.

The public never gets to know Stevens the way the audience does, thus posing an interesting commentary on the Internet age of being a celebrity. Make one misstep, and adoring fans can quickly turn ambivalent. Have sordid details of your past come out, and suddenly you are saddled with a throng of virulent detractors (some advice for people caught in that position: Never, ever read the comment sections). It doesn’t matter whether a person is truly a good person or not . We (meaning American media consumers at large) make snap judgments in the first five minutes of a person’s 15 minutes of fame. After that critical period of time, it’s very hard to change the dialogue.

But, it is not impossible. What does America love more than a survival story, Valerie postulates after Stevens seeks her counsel? A story of redemption. While Stevens certainly never asked for her fame, we have all had experiences where we were forced to tackle problems that were not of our own choosing. Stevens strategy of just ignoring everything around her was doomed to fail from the start.

Taking control of her own destiny and her own dialogue was the only choice to break the cycle. Stevens does that, partly in the form of accepting her physical disabilities (such as being confined to a wheelchair). The other dynamic part of her character accepts that she is a celebrity, and finally tells her story on her own terms.

  • The Unlikely Ascent of Sybil Stevens
  • Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    • December 2022
    • October 2022
    • September 2022
    • August 2022
    • February 2022
    • November 2021
    • July 2021
    • May 2021
    • November 2020
    • September 2020
    • December 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • April 2019
    • November 2015
    • July 2015
    • September 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • October 2013
    • May 2013
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • February 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • February 2011
    • August 2010
    • May 2010
    • March 2010
    • January 2010
    • December 2009
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • March 2009
    • January 2009
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
    • June 2008
    • April 2008
    • February 2008
    • December 2007
    • November 2007
    • October 2007
    • August 2007
    • July 2007
    • June 2007
    • May 2007
    • April 2007
    • March 2007
    • December 2006
    • November 2006
    • September 2006
    • July 2006
    • June 2006
    • May 2005
    • April 2005
    • March 2005
    • February 2005
    • January 2005
    • December 2004
    • September 2004
    • August 2004
    • May 2004
    • April 2004
    • December 2003
    • November 2003
    • October 2003
    • September 2003
    • August 2003
    • April 2003
    • March 2003
    • February 2003
    • January 2003
    • December 2002
    • November 2002
    • October 2002
    • September 2002
    • July 2002
    • May 2002
    • April 2002
    ©2023 Wesley Cheng Home | Powered by WordPress & Superb Themes