Review #2 of 2: The Making of a Great Moment by Hyde Park Theatre
by Vanessa Hoang Hughes
Wake up! The Victoria Canada Traveling Bicycle Theatre Company is in town! In four short hours, this touring-by-bike production of Great Moments in Human Achievement promises to change your life. Although over-anxious Mona and aloof Terry, the cast, shower in gas station sinks and probably stink from nonstop biking, their life mission is to bike their play across North America, touching the minds and souls of all who attend their four-hour show.
In actuality, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s The Making of a Great Moment is a pleasant ninety minutes. The audience won't be able to grasp all of the "Great Moments in Human Achievement" as promised, but the play offers a hilarious and surprisingly sensitive story about quirky scene partners grappling with their anxieties in the midst of a nonsensical, objectively bad bicycle tour.
The show is credited to the fictional Polly Kensington with actual direction by Mark Pickell, who also designed the set. The actors never leave the stage, except for a very clever bit in the beginning of the show pertaining to a “technical difficulty.” Paired with Patrick Anthony’s lighting, the set was subtle and effective. It easily portrayed the inside of a run-down theater and the side of a road at night. Audience imagination did the rest.
The show’s program lists Mona Barnes and Terry Dean as the primary actors, with the real performers as understudies. This format proved a little confusing, but made more sense after you read their fanciful biographies. In any case, by five minutes into the show, you realized exactly what was happening.
Lee Eddy’s Mona Barnes is an ambitious, almost Michael Scott-esque character who earnestly believes that this play is the most important thing that can and will happen to her and all those who see it. Although funny and quick-witted on the stage, she grapples with uncertainty and self-doubt about her life’s mission. Eddy had the audience cracking up with her astonishingly goofy impressions, including that of the character “Clothes,” the first person to don the fur of another creature. And a plus: her fits of apprehension are painfully relatable.
On the other hand, Jeff Mills’ Terry Dean grounds the production as the down-to-earth, seasoned actor co-starring with Mona. Deep down, Terry keeps comparing himself with other actors, trying but failing to mask his jealousy of those with more accolades and better contracts. Mills's subtle comedic timing and overall warm presence help reel the audience back in from Mona's stress. He proves relatable in a near-opposite way to Mona, as a guy who jumps from gig to gig attempting to keep himself busy to avoid more stressful thoughts. Demonstrating all these attributes requires a lot of skill, which Jeff Mills certainly has.
The physical comedy was definitely the highlight of the show. In between each “Human Achievement," (they're progressively more and more absurd) I found myself gasping for air from laughter. The actors’ chemistry and mutual trust was apparent.
Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s script expertly balances comedy and sensitivity. What starts as a near-farce ends in heartfelt catharsis. This was the kind of play that you could come home from and fall peacefully to sleep.
The Making of a Great Moment runs until October 24th. It deserves a sold-out closing.
The Making of a Great Moment
by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb
Hyde Park Theatre
October 01 - October 24, 2026
(revised) October 1 - October 24, 2026
Hyde Park Theatre, 511 W. 43rd at Guadalupe, Austin
