Hiding Behind Comets

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "Hiding Behind Comets" by Brian Dykstra

Date: Sat, April 29, 12:07 AM

Quicktake on HIDING BEHIND COMETS

     Brian Dykstra's post-modern grande guignol, Hiding Behind Comets, just opening as Zeitgeist's final offering of the season, is one of those contemporary theatre pieces which pretend to explore hard-edged reality, but which confuse the sensational with the significant. If the script were subjected to the main character's test whether it should live or die, "HBC" would fail. But like a car wreck by the side of the road, this four actor, one set show will probably continue to lure in small theatres until the next example of this depressing trend in current script writing comes along.

     Briefly, this brief two-acter takes place in a roadside bar somewhere boring in northern California. A thuggish stranger has shown up. The young bartender, Troy, played by Greg Raposa, seen in "The Fox" earlier this season, is arguing with his fraternal twin sister, Honey, played by Olivia Rizzo. She wants him to close early--it's around midnight--and come with her and his slutty girlfriend, Erin, played by Kelley Estes, to a party down the road. The older man, Cole, is Rick Park, veteran local actor. At the end of the first act, after a good deal of sexual innuendo,involving a long ambivalent scene between Cole and Honey, followed by a long confessional monologue from Cole, the girl's leave. Cole and Troy face off, the incipient mystery rears its head,resulting in a "significant" curtain line. There's a suspicion that a play might develop in the second act, but the first has the air of a padded one-act, and with editing, would play well as such, though probably not in ten minutes.

     What develops in the second part, however, is a series of vaguely Absurdist confrontations between Troy and Cole which become increasingly violent. By the conclusion, the question becomes who will kill who, with no clear reason why. We're in Shepard country without a map. "Hiding Behind Comets," which takes its title from an oblique reference to the suicidal Heaven's Gate cult, trades on the fading memory of Jonestown to create melodramatic frisson with no real purpose other than violence for its own sake. While "stuff happens" may be the message of the evening news--and the current political morass--more is expected of drama. Zeitgeist's David J. Miller has once again found a script with limited moral value, given it a realistic production, and invited an audience. With the other choices currently available around town, he shouldn't be surprised if they don't come. Like the set, which is very realistic, except for the main wall behind the action, which has the entrances and a window, but is merely one side of the black box, there's something missing in this show which can't be salvaged by Park's impressive acting skills. Raposa manages to keep up most of the time, but the two recent theatre grads playing the girls are left far behind. And the audience is left wondering if they've just watched a staged treatment for a low budget M or X rated film. Or whatever.

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Seen in Preview
"Hiding Behind Comets" by Brian Dykstra, April 30 - May 20

Zeitgeist Stage Company in Plaza Black Box

BCA, 259 Tremont, (617) 933-8600
Zeitgeist

All's Well That Ends Well

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "All's Well That Ends Well" by Wm. Shakespeare

Date: Insert date and time

Quicktake on ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL

     The Actors' Shakespeare Project's final offering of the season, the Bard's seldom done "All's Well That Ends Well", directed by the company's Artistic Director and founder, Benjamin Evett, displays their increasingly tight ensemble work. Casting within the company , however, has resulted in two distinctive performers, John Kuntz and Jennie Israel, taking the romantic leads, rather against type. The duo, at odds for 95 percent of the action, is almost impossible to bring together in the closing scene, and as in "Measure for Measure," another dramatic comedy, the result isn't very satisfying. Israel, the company's Associate Artistic Director, played Lady Macbeth for CSC and was effective last fall as Goneril in "King Lear," but, as Helena, comes across rather flat in this lighter part. Kuntz, who played Rich. III in the company's inaugural production, is a believably spoiled young noble, Bertram Count Rossillion, but doesn't project the romantic aura the role requires.. However, the play is rich enough that its array of lesser characters, including LaVache, the family fool, also played by Kuntz, make this a rewarding production.

     Two central characters are particularly effective. As the Countess, Bertram's widowed mother, Boston acting legend Paula Plum shows her varied talents, adding more comedy than is usual to the role in scenes with LaVache. Shakespeare & Co.'s Allyn Burrows', who appeared in ASP's "Measure for Measure" as The Duke, and was Kent in "Lear, " makes the most of Capt. Parolles, Bertram's dishonest associate. His comic downfall provides the play's secondary complication, and serves as a foil to Bertram's own dissembling. Award-winning actress Bobbie Steinbach is also entertaining playing aged Lord LaFeu, adviser to both the Countess and the King, and doubling as a noble Widow Capulit in Florence, mother to Ellen Adair's Diana, the object of Bertram's transient affections and the key to the plot. David Gullette from the Poet's Theatre is believable as the King, the cause of the action, who must finally sort out the result. The remaining three of the ensemble of ten actors, who play named parts, members of the military, and various servants, are Paula Langton and Greg Steres, as the noble brothers Dumain and Risher Reddick as the inept Duke of Florence and Rinaldo, the Countess' steward. They keep the show rolling along, manipulating Caleb Wertenbaker's ingenious formal set with minimal furniture and three trunks on wheels which form set pieces and hold many of the costume changes.

     This time, ASP has arranged Durrell Hall so that seating is against and on the permanent stage, with the acting area on a painted map on the main floor and partially under the balcony. Live music is provided by fiddler Oisin Conway, who also speaks the epilogue, and pianist Natty Smith who also gets to turn the signs which indicate whether scenes are in Rossillion, Paris, or Florence. Most of the cast sings a mixture of ballads, madrigals, and folk tunes to help with transitions between scenes. There's a particularly effective choral piece before Bertram's assignation which is played up in Durrell's actual balcony. Evett and company have created an effective, entertaining, and understandable production with much to offer. The limitations of the principal characters are implicit in the tale itself, which Shakespeare borrowed from Boccacio, and which he may tried earlier in a lost version entitled "Love's Labor Won."

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"All's Well That Ends Well" by Shakespeare, Apr. 20 - May 14

Actors' Shakespeare Project at Durrell Hall, Camb. YMCA

800 Mass. Ave, Camb, 1 (866) 811 - 4111 (TM)
A.S.P.

NUNSENSATIONS! the Las Vegas Revue

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "Nunsensations" by Dan Googin

Date: Fri, Apr 21, 11:57 PM

Quicktake on NUNSENSATIONS!

     The latest edition of Dan Goggins' "Nunsense" saga takes the Little Sisters of Hoboken to Las Vegas to present a revue in return for a donation to their school, Mt. St. Helen. Still a crowd-pleaser, the joke is wearing thin. "Nunsensations" has little new to offer, musically or lyrically. Several of the songs are clearly out of the trunk and could be dropped into any previous version unnoticed. Goggin's has found a successful formula which perhaps makes the best use of his talents for harmless parody.

     The cast of "Nunsensations" features Bonnie Lee as Rev. Mother Mary Regina, complete with Irish brogue with Bambi Jones as Sr. Mary Hubert, her second in command, more in charge than ever. Carolyn Drocoski, who's been involved with the Nunsense for 18 years and who directed Lyric's production of "Meshaggah-Nuns!" two seasons ago, is Brooklyn born Sr. Robert Anne, tough as ever, Emerson grad Jeanne Tinker plays Sr. Mary Paul aka Amnesia, ditsy as ever. Her irrepressible sidekick Sr. Mary Annette has only one appearance, however. (She's just tried out for "Ave. Q".) Sr. Mary Leo, the dancer, is Carrie Keskinen, who completes what's billed as the world premiere cast of this show. All five display considerable comedic talent and are in fine voice. "Nunsense" fans--and there may be legions of them--won't be disappointed or surprised.

     Stoneham will be following this show with more visitors from Las Vegas, a recreation of "The Rat Pack." They'll be opening their fall season in Sept. with Cole Porter's vintage show "You Never Know."

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"Nunsensations" by Dan Googin, April 20 - 30

Stoneham Theatre

395 Main St. Stoneham MA, (781) 279 - 2200
Stoneham Theatre

The Man Who

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "The Man Who" by Oliver Sacks, Peter Brook & Marie-Helene Estienne

Date: Thur, April 20, 10:33 PM

Quicktake on THE MAN WHO

     Those familiar with Oliver Sacks' anecdotal study of neurological anomalies, "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat" will find some of the more striking references from that work embedded in this collage of interactions between doctors and patients. Those familiar with the recent work of Peter Brook will recognize the transformations the four actors undergo in this short effort. In the course of 75 minutes, each plays doctors confronting men suffering from some abberation of perception. These unique symptoms suggest the malleability of reality, at least for the individual. There are of course no conclusions or judgements, and no patients with secondary clinical diagnoses.

     The cast, directed by Wesley Savick consists of IRNE winner Steven Barkhimer, Robert Bonotto, Owen Doyle, and Jim Spencer. Barkhimer was last seen for the Nora in Van Gogh in Japan, as was Robert Bonotto. Both were seen this fall at the Lyric in Steve Martin's version of "The Underpants." Owen Doyle appeared recently in "A Prayer for Owen Meany" at Stoneham. Jim Spencer was in Nora's "Antigone: last season and was nominated for an IRNE for his role in ACT's "City Preacher" by Ed Bullins. Director Savick recently directed "Theatre District" for Speakeasy, and Zayd Dorhn's IRNE winning "Permanent Whole Life'" at Boston Playwrights'. The show has the polish one would expect from such an ensemble.

     In a piece of nonlinear theatre like this, the arc of the action comes from connections made between its disperate elements. As the ensemble moves from the calming attitude of the neurologists to the varying degrees of agitation shown by their patients, the depth of the failure of perception becomes painfully clear. And the common dilemma shared by both classes is heightened as doctor becomes patient and vice versa. There are a few bravura moments, carried off by Barkhimer and Doyle, while Bonotto and Spencer have quieter epiphanies. The simple truth of the show however, is that there is no cure for these problems, a very sobering thought. Like the rest of life, they can only be dealt with.

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"The Man Who", Apr.20 - May 7

Nora Theatre Co. at Boston Playwrights'

949 Comm. Ave. Allston, 1 (866) 811 - 4111
Nora Theatre Co.

Charlie & the Chocolate Factory

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (1976) adapted by Rich. C. George

from Roald Dahl's book (1963)
Date: Sun, Apr 9, 7:58 PM

Quicktake on CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

     After two fairly serious show's aimed at older children, WFT's spring offering is a technologically updated version of a 1976 adaptation of Roald Dahl's darkly comic classic, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." Richard C. George script is fairly typical children's theatre fare, even with director/designer James P. Byrne's showmanship. Dahl's literary merit is quickly lost in the toing-and-froing. Turning the narrator into a T.V. news personality, Played by Dan Bolton, and using video to separate the sections of the story doesn't disguise the oversimplification of the tale and its moral. But squads of kids get to participate, as stage children, as Oompa-Loompas, and as Squirrels.

     The role of the mysterious chocolatier, Willy Wonka, is taken by WFT General manager Jane Staab, who won't be mistaken for either Gene Wilder or Johnny Depp. Charlie Bucket is played by Khalil K. Fleming, seem this time last year as Jack. His Grandpa Joe is done by WFT veteran Mansur, while Grandma Josephine falls another regular, Ilyse Robbins. Mr. Bucket is Harold Withee, currently touring with the New Rep's Macbeth while Mrs. is done by Jackie Davis from Our Place Theatre, both seen last December in "Promises, Promises." The four other holders of the wonderful Golden Ticket, which lets lucky children tour the Chocolate Factory are Andrew Schlager(gluttonous Augustus Gloop), Talia Weingarten(demanding Veruca Salt), Laura Morell(gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde). and, from Stoneham--seen last fall in "Pal Joey, "--Andrew Barbato as (TV addict Mike Teavee). Each meets their appropriate fate with adequate theatrical effects. Their parents are Susan Bigger (Mrs. Gloop), John Davin and Lisa Korak( the wealthy Salts), Gamalia Pharms (Mrs. Beaurergarde), and Darius Omar Williams as Major TeaVee. Greg Nash is Grandpa George, and Pharms doubles as Grandma Georgina,

     The show takes place on a simple set and in the house, lit by IRNE winner John R. Malinowski. It was choreographed by IRNE winner Laurel Stachowicz, with costumes by Lisa Simpson, who also dresses the Gold Dust Orphans. Andy Aldous handled the sound, Tim McCarthy produced the Comedy Central style videos along with animator Michael Duplessis. The electronic captioning from c2 fits right into the rest of the effects. Fans of the book may find a few things missing, and those who just saw the most recent movie will notice some differences. If there's no edgier script available for this first book, perhaps someone should extract one from "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator," Dahl's sequel, a take on the future and space travel--circa 1972.

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"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (1976) adapted by Rich. C. George, Apr. 7 - May 14

Wheelock Family Theatre at Wheelock College

200 The Riverway, Boston (617) 879 - 2300
Wheelock Family Theatre

Not a review

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "Kind Hearts and Coronets" by Freedman and Lutvak

Date: Thurs, April 6, 11:41 PM

Quicktake on KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS

     The third annual "Breaking Ground" Festival of new works opened last night to a packed house for Kind Hearts and Coronets, a new musical by Robt. L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak, recent recipients of a Kleban Award. The show, based on the 1949 movie which starred Alec Guinness, has touches of Gilbert and Sullivan and Lerner & Lowe, plus a soupcon of music hall with echoes of light operetta. An exceptional ten person cast, led by Douglas Sills playing the ill-fated D'Ascoyne aristocrats --all of them except for Louis, who was ably sung by Jonathan Hadley, was joined by composer and co-lyricist Steven Lutvak at the piano. Broadway veterans like Sills were joined by local performers Kent French and Kate deLima, plus NEC grad Nancy Anderson as Sibella. The ensemble also included Price Waldemen, Marilyn Caskey as Louis' mother, Bill Gross, and Tregoney Shepherd.

     "KInd Hearts and Coronets", a classic of post-WWII British film. tells the tale, in classic murder-mystery style, of how Louis D'Ascoyne Mazzini, the shunned poor relation of the eight Duke of Chalfont disposes of seven of his cousins to ascend to the peerage. His love affairs with Sibella, a friend from his childhood who marries another, and Edith, the widow of one of his cousins, brightly sung by Jill Paice, provide the necessary excuse for much of the singing. The show's tunes are well-placed if occasionally overlong. The two act structure enforced on today's theatre once again puts too much into the first half; three acts with two intermissions would be preferable. Whether this musical has any commercial chance is of course almost impossible to judge. It might find a place among the smaller shows Off-Broadway and then become available for general production, where it could well become a favorite, being well-suited for repertory and high-end community production.

     "Breaking Ground" continues through the end of the week with "Persephone" by Noah Haidie on 8 pm Friday, featuring Julie White; "Voyeurs de Venus" by Lydia R. Diamond at 3pm Saturday which brings Vince Siders back to town; "Property" by Valerie R. Martin at 8pm Saturday with Michael T. Weiss; Ronan Noone's "The Atheist" at 3pm Sunday featuring Campbell Scott as its only actor; and Theresa Rebeck's latest, "Mauritius", at 7pm Sunday with Drama Desk winner Denis O'Hare and Norton awardee Laura Latreille. Rebeck recently scored a hit with her dark comedy "The Scene" which premiered at the 30 Humana Festival this week in Louisville.

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"KInd Hearts and Coronets" by Robt. L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak, 04/06/06

"Breaking Ground,"; HTC at Calderwood Rehearsal

529 Tremont , (617) 266 - 0800
HTC

The Maternal Instinct

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "The Maternal Instinct" by Monica Bauer

Date: Sun, April 2 , 6:49 PM

Quicktake on THE MATERNAL INSTINCT

     The Out of the Blue Co. is currently presenting their annual Actors' Equity Showcase production of a new play at the Boston Playwrights' Theatre. This year it's "The Maternal Instinct" by BPT alumna Monica Bauer. The script began as a 10 minute script called "Ouch" and has grown into a two act full-length play. Still seemingly in development, not all of its scenes seem quite fully grown. Moreover, it's hard to decide whether this is a 21st century family drama with comic moments, or a very dark comedy of contemporary manners.

     The principle characters are a married lesbian couple--this being Massachusetts. Alisha Jansky plays Sarah, a special ed teacher, the wife of Lillian, an ambitious professor of biochemistry at one of our universities, played by Karen Woodward Massey. Sarah wants a baby, Lillian is unalterably opposed. Lillian's sister, Emma, who has two kids of her own, played by Rena Baskin, has been conspiring with Sarah to find a donor. Eventually this role falls to Lillian's friend and mentor, Fred, the head of her department, played by Stephen Cooper. Each member of this unlikely menage a trois has an encounter in the Public Garden with an incoherent drunken woman whose vocabulary consisted mostly of the word "Ouch." Played by Elise Manning,this homeless souse, who is also pregnant, provides a catalyst for the final action, or so it seems. Like many current scripts, things are left rather up in the air as the lights fade out for the last time.

     Production values on a set by Loann West are basic but sufficient. A full-scale production for this 13 scene play might require a revolve and a small side wagon, but this version survives without them. The ensemble acquits itself well under Melissa J. Wentworth's direction, going for realistic rather than comic timing in most cases. The viewpoint of the play does veer from almost satirical to realistic emotions with no clear line of action, however. Still, the social problems it explores, and the deeper question of how family background influences adult relationships, are interestingly developed, worth attention--and further rewrites.

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"The Maternal Instinct" by Monica Bauer, March 30 - April 16

Out of the Blue Theatre Co. at Boston Playwrights' Theatre

949 Comm. Ave. Allston, (866) 811 - 4111
Out of the Blue

I MISS COMMUNISM - Review

I MISS COMMUNISM

Reviewed by Will Stackman


    The title of this show isn't an April Fool joke. Nor was Ines Wurth's autobiographical one-woman show about three women in one house through three wars, three governments, and three currencies. The communism she misses is the idealistic creed she learned as a child in the Young Pioneers, the Commintern version of Scouting. It's the one expressed in the naive lyrics of the Internationale that ends her show. Her life in Zagreb, Croatia is another story, detailed in 90 minutes, interspersed with a few show tunes, mostly from "Oliver", the movie that informed her growing up. She emigrated to this country to work her way through college in L.A. and has worked in stage and film both here and abroad, without losing her national identity though she's now an American citizen. This show mixes the serious and the comic on several levels, revealing a deeply human story, enough to make one hope Wurth'll be back in these parts again sometime soon. The show's deeper moral, that fracturing a country is bad for all concerned might even apply to the good old USA.

     What appears to be a simple autobiography is really the work of several professionals. This show was written with and directed by Mark Soper, a seasoned professional, with choreography by Brian Frette, music composed by Zeijko Marasovic as well as Lindsey Gillis, with original lyrics by Patty Tobin. Ronda Dybnice Brooks designed Ines' layered costume, which takes her from childhood in signature orange to a young pioneer to a show girl. The complex lighting was created by Bosco Flannagan. But all their efforts are really just a gloss for Ines' range of acting and impersonation. Jimmy Tingle's Off-Broadway once again proves its worth as a legitimate theatre. Particularly for solo and intimate shows.

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"I Miss Communism" by Ines Wurth & Mark Soper

presented by N.E. Friends of Crotia at Jimmy Tingle's Off-Broadway

255 Elm St. Davis Sq. Som'ville, Mar. 31-Apr. 2

(866) 811 - 4111

Orpheus X

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "Talley's Folly" by Lanford Wilson

Date: Sun, March 26, 11:50 PM

Quicktake on TALLEY'S FOLLY

     Some Pulitzer Prize dramas age better than others. Lanford Wilson's "Talley's Folly," the second play in his hometown trilogy resonates just as deeply as it did in 1979 -- post- Vietnam. In this long one act with only two characters. Wilson evokes all the history which bedevils the Talley clan in "The Fifth of July" and "Talley & Son"

    Marianna Bassham is luminous as Sally Talley, thirty and unmarried, stuck living with her difficult family, the richest people in this rural town. WHAT's Steven Russell gets beyond the ghost of Judd Hirsch to create his own appealing Matt Friedman, an accountant from St. Louis, shipped to this county to escape WWI, come to claim Sally in marriage in the midst of WWII. Director Adam Zahler, in his usual economical style, brings the two together, eventually.

    Janie Howland's fragmented "folly" of a ruined boathouse floats on the Lyric stage, well lit by John Cuff. Dewey Dellay's soundscape evokes the riverside and distant band music across water nicely. Lanford Wilson's ouevre hasn't been seen here often enough recently. This fine Lyric production may reminds other producers of his mastery of language and almost Chekovian characterization.

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"Talley's Folly" by Lanford Wilson, Mar. 24 - Apr. 22

Lyric Stage Company at Copley YWCA

140 Clarendon, (617) 585 - 5678
Lyric Stage