First Person Shooter: Three Stars (Keep Rapping) * * *

You know how you're listening to the Star Spangled Banner at the start of a baseball game and the singer is going all Chaka Khan with the melody? That's because the singer thinks its all about her. But it isn't. It's the National Anthem. That's why you might hear The Great Plotnik screaming at his TV: THE MELODY! JUST SING THE MELODY! PLEASE!

This is also true in the theater. After seeing 'First Person Shooter' last night at SF Playhouse, The Great Plotnik has decided director Jon Tracy may need to scale back the gimmicks. Aaron Loeb's fascinating story of a small video game company trying to come to grips with a real-life shooting in a school yard, whose perpetrators appear to have been influenced by the company's uber-violent video game, is marred by constant directorial decisions that make little sense. For example, every time a scene changes the characters slam -- and I mean slam -- metal chairs onto the metal stage. This is very, very jarring. The purpose is probably to heighten the audience's discomfort with a difficult subject, but it destroys the flow of the narrative. The only justification Plotnik can thing of is that the production team hasn't realized yet just how strong a story they have. The gimmicks are totally unnecessary. Just sing the melody. Please?

Now, the author may have written in these gimmicks, in which case an apology to the director is herewith offered. Also, World Premieres always need some tweaking, and with a cast made up of the amazing Craig Marker as Kerry, the sinister Chad Deverman as Tommy and the perfectly underplayed Adrian Roberts as Daniel, father of one of the victims in the shooting, plus a story that forces us to dig deep to grapple with the issues raised, all the pieces are there. What 'First Person Shooter' needs is just a little more time, and more faith in what's already on the page.

As far as ratings go: Hmmmm. The show has a Four Star Plus potential, but it's not there yet. The Great Plotnik Theater Awards Division grants 'First Person Shooter' one star for the acting, one for the story and another half for Craig Marker's fabulous rap with headphones on as the show opens, plus one more half just because they're taking chances with the subject matter. You can't understate how important a point this is. Three Stars (Keep Rapping) for 'Shooter' and a memo to go back again at the end of the run.