"Harold's Big Break"
Planet Ant Theatre
Hamtramck, Mich.
June 15, 2025
Planet Ant Theatre tackles American capitalism head-on in “Harold’s Big Break,” which made its world premier this month. Written and directed by Randall Floyd Cooper, the absurdist comedy takes American corporate greed to the extremes and questions the moral compromises needed for success in this country.
The premise is straightforward: The evil Brewligan's Coffee company has a PR crisis and needs a commercial ASAP to boost sales. A representative of the company (Joe Gaskill) approaches an eccentric, legendary filmmaker – who goes only by “Director” now (Molly Alampi) – to create and film the project. After being interrupted from performing an occult spell, she begrudgingly agrees, insistent she does things her own way and casts only unknown actors.
Enter the rest of the cast, all eager to get the part. Our title character Harold (Cameron Beckham) is looking for his big acting break, though needs some coaxing from his self-described toxic and bullying best friend Lester (Erik Tarcia), who also auditions. Joining them in the casting line are future love interest Vicky (Jackie Odien) and Jerry (also Gaskill).
The bar for acceptance is pretty low, as Director asks them nonsense questions – including a cryptic “Will anyone notice if you were to perish?” – and all are cast. As they begin the project, Director’s vision proves dark and deranged. The actors do their best to oblige, all while trying to satisfy a difficult client. As the team experiments with murder and S&M, an ambitious but insecure Harold must question his morality to see if he has what it takes for professional and personal success.
The humor isn’t subtle. Characters openly express their desire to exploit people and get away with whatever they want. In trying to convince Harold to audition for the commercial, Lester paints a picture of how great life would be when they become famous, including being able to get away with drinking and driving and being able to send their unqualified kids to any college they’d like, which I found delightfully specific and was my favorite joke of the night. I found the jokes more amusing than laugh-out-loud funny, but others in the audience seemed to really enjoy them.
As a character, Harold doesn’t entirely make sense. While it is clear he is an insecure person on a journey to build self-confidence, it is strange that an aspiring actor would be hesitant to audition for a low-stakes job. Once he gets the job, he appears clueless on how scripts and acting jobs work. If Harold is to be a believable character, there must be some baseline qualifications for his presented profession. Beckham captures the hesitancy of the character but could benefit from more dynamics with increased energy and movement, especially as his character develops.
Alampi gives a strong performance as Director, capturing the stereotype of a pretentious, overly theatrical artist whose obsession with her work veers on madness.
As Vicky, Odien is an overly eager, aspiring actress. Her constant enthusiasm, often feels forced; her portrayal would be better served with more nuance.
Lester – a self-aware asshole – was one of my favorite characters. Tarcia delivers many of the show’s funniest lines portraying his joyful unabashed selfishness with few moral qualms. In his dual supporting roles, Gaskill succeeds in playing both the corporate lackey and an unfortunate actor, both trying to find their way in the world.
While the play was a bit too quirky for my taste, “Harold’s Big Break” is an amusing show backed by a worthy cause. It could benefit from more nuance, but perhaps we all need a little more of a direct reminder of where we should be aiming our frustrations.
