Sunday, July 30, 2006

Hovey Summer Arts Festival A

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "Hovey Summer Arts Festival, A"; Kelly Dumar & Philana Gnatoski

Date:Sat, July 29, 8:20 AM

Quicktake on WHAT WE SAVE & THE HALFWAY HOUSE CLUB

     The two long one acts in the first half of the Hovey Players annual summer festival, done basically as workshops, are both long on interesting characters and situations fraught with possibilities. Both however would be more effective dramas if expanded into full-length two act dramas with more attention paid to their structure. Kelly Dumar's "What We Save" would get some real dramatic tension if it broke leaving the audience wondering whether Corri, played energetically by producer Leigh Berry would go to California to confront her first love Lance, played by Ted Batch. Moreover, there would be time to flesh out the other two characters including Lance's wife Sharon, played by Jeannie Lin and Corri's wheelchair-bound husband Vic, played by J. Mark Baumhardt. And possibly, since there is one flashback scene already, the important character of Lance's grandmother, Nana, a minister might join the action "then" as well as now. Director Michelle M. Aguillon gets good performance from her cast as it is.

     "The Halfway House Club", whose title might be evocatively shortened to "Halfway", written by recent Emerson grad Philana Gnatoski brings four unlikely lost souls together in an informal temporary rooming house, basically a place to stay for those who've just broken up with someone and lost their place to live. The central role, Samantha, played by the author, is a 20ish bookstore clerk who's been in and out of this residence, Anne, her new roommate played by Penny Benson, on the other hand, has just walked out on her philandering husband of more than a few year. They're joined, by a stretch of imagination by two guys, John Grenier-Ferris last seen at Hovey in "Buried Child", as Paul, a banker, and Jack, a photographer new in town, played by James Tallach. Their various exchanges are interesting, but there's a sense of the Absurd to the situation. The staging needs to be rethought--perhaps move to a common area and some sort of dramatic arc created. Breaking just after the first man arrives would set up a second half, and allow more time for development. J. Mark Baumgarten directs the action with understanding.

     The second set of plays, "Fin and Euba" by Audrey Cefaly and "Bob's Date" by John Shanahan were done this Saturday, and will be repeated next Friday. The two discussed above will be seen again next Saturday. Both programs start with showings of short dramatic or comic films by local filmmakers. While the contrast is interesting, live and recorded acting don't blend all that well. The film showings really do deserve their own night.



"What We Save" by Kelly Dumar & "The Halfway House Club" by Philana Gnatoski, July 28, Aug. 5

Hovey Players at Abbott Theatre

9 Spring St., Waltham MA (781) 893 - 9171
Hovey Players

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Copenhagen

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "Copenhagen" by Michael Frayn

Date: Wed, July 26, 11:16 PM

Quicktake on COPENHAGEN

     When Michael Frayn's Tony winning drama "Copenhagen" toured through several seasons ago it received respectful attention but not much comment. With the nuclear issue once again in the news, not to mention harbingers of WWW III--and possible Armageddon-- in the Middle East, this historical mystery/morality seems much more relevant. With only three actors and a simple elegant setting by Judy Stacier, Diego Arciniegas has once again done a firstrate production, equal to anything seen by any local theatre so far this season.

    Barry Press plays the father of modern atomic theory, Neil Bohr, trapped in Nazi-occupied Denmark along with his wife Margrethe played by Suzanne Nitter. It's 1941 and half-Jewish Bohr can see the writing on the wall. His former student, Werner Heisenberg played by Gabriel Kuttner, now chair of Nuclear Physics at Leipzig, has come on a formal visit.Bohr learns that Heisenberg, largely responsible for quantum mechanics, whose name is attached to its "Uncertainty Principle," is in charge of Germany's program to exploit nuclear fission, presumably to build a Bomb. Exactly what the two spoke of during this brief visit has been the source of much speculation, especially since each man gave vague differing reports of the event after the war. Frayn's weaves several conjectures into a two act text which circles, like electrons in orbit around a nucleus, around issues like scientific responsibility and patriotism, in an attention grabbing script.

     All three actors are wearing discrete headmikes, which frees up the blocking considerably, allowing Kuttner on occasion to circle the audience, and the two men to be seen back in the garden but still heard clearly. There's a complex score prepared by Steven Barkhimer and Anthony Phelps finds new uses for Publick's slowly improving lighting. This may not be light summer entertainment like "The Beard of Avon", it's partner in rep through the first week in September, but "Copenhagen" is perhaps the strongest and most intellectually stimulating on this summer.



"Copenhagen" by Michael Frayn, July 26 - Sept. 10

Publick Theatre at Herter Park

Soldiers Field Rd. Brighton, (617) 782 - 4525
Publick Theatre

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

HAMLET

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "Hamlet" by Wm. Shakespeare

Date: Mon, July 17, 9:48 AM

Quicktake on HAMLET

     Eleanor Holdridge, the director of the first production of "Hamlet" this esteemed company has presented has fallen prey to concept, but fortunately that doesn't much get in the way of a cast of experienced Shakespearean's doing the play up brown. Her opinion that young Hamlet would have made a terrible king does limit the possibilities of Jason Asprey's development of the melancholy Dane, however. The role is played with a bit too much teen age angst and perhaps too little of the noble mind, but is still affecting. Holdridge also suggests that the whole evening is some sort of massive flashback, the Prince's life flashing -- literally -- before his eyes before he dies. The loud sounds and strobes which accompany this concept do keep the audience on its toes. Since the company for the play has been reduced to 11, she's also made cuts and rearrangements. The play starts in the court rather than on the battlements--a not uncommon tactic when trying to shorten this three hour plus work--but later on reduces the players to the Player King alone, which then requires Gertrude, played by Tina Packer, founder of S&C and Jason's mother, and Claudius, played by Nigel Gore, to read their parts in "The Mousetrap." Hamlet also delivers his advice to the players to them, something of an in-joke. This complex rewrite is interesting to watch and works more or less, but perhaps Polonius, played by Asprey's stepfather, Dennis Krausnick, in the context of the action, might more logically have done the murdering brother. Gore plays the realization as well as can be expected but the scene becomes muddled.

    Fortinbras, played by Stephen James Anderson, fortunately has been left in, though in modern combat gear he's scruffier than need be. The show is modern dress, though Hamlet shows up for the play with a play in a doublet wearing an Elizabethan ruff. Much of the rest of the time he's a bit retro, suggesting Edwin Booth in street clothes. The Prince's two main foils, Horatio and Laertes, are done with conviction by Howard W. Overshown and Kevin O'Donnell. Elizabeth Raetz's Ophelia is affecting but not fully in tune with the ensemble, though her relationship with Hamlet is touching. An excellent English actor, John Windsor-Cunningham triples as the Ghost, the Player King and the lone Gravedigger, making each part memorable. Edward Check's minimal set in the black box is functional if occasionally indulgent. Ophelia doesn't have a gravetrap, but she does get to open a manhole cover and dabble in some water during the mad scene. And for some reason Hamlet's favorite corner of the palace includes a giant lighting globe. However, none of the show's eccentricities get in the way of truly powerful performance from all the principals, unlike the pastiche presented last summer on the Boston Common.



"Hamlet" by Wm. Shakespeare, July 1 - Aug. 27

Shakespeare & Co. in Founders Theatre

70 Kemble St. (RT.7A) Lenox MA, (413) 637 - 3353
Shakespeare & Co.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot" by Stephen Adly Guirgis

Date: Tuesday, July 17, 9:57 PM

Quicktake on THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT

     Stephen Adly Guirgis's 2005 effort for LABrynth, his homebase in NYC, is a sprawling meditation on despair, even more grounded in the implications of morality, particularly as seen by certain Catholic thinkers, than "Our Lady of 121st St." Like the latter piece it is episodic, with cameos for members of his company. Unfortunately, since the setting is Purgatory and both Jesus and Satan are represented, along with quirky modern characters, and the action only loosely linear, the script rambles and is currently at least half an hour too long, without arc or conclusion. Never the less, Company One's Summer L. Williams, the group's education director, gets her cast through it with eventually.

     Most of the show is in a courtroom setting with George Saulnier as the Judge, a Confederate Army Officer who committed suicide. Performances range from excellent to acceptable, with standout efforts by Shawn La Count, Company One's artistic director, as Satan, Noel Armstrong as Cunningham, Judas' defense attorney, and Raymond Ramirez as her client, who never appears in court. Mason Sand, an original Company One member, plays the prosecutor, an obsequious Middle Easterner named El-Fayoumy with a florid vocabulary, a joke which wears out too quickly. Saulnier is impressive doubling as Caphias, the High Priest, one of the scripts several intentional doubles.
Greg Maraio's Butch Honeywell, the foreman of a three person jury, has an impressive monologue which serves as the coda for the evening but comes rather out of the blue. Juanita Rodrigues, a teacher at the Boston Art's academy is effective as Judas' mother, Henrietta, who opens the show and a scene stealer as trash-talking St. Monica.

     The author's freewheeling imagination provides many interesting moments and challenges to the actors, and he raises a lot of old unanswered question about faith. But he and LABrynth don't seem to have been able to winnow through this collection to shape a coherent piece of theatre. Scenes that might have been useful acting exercises seem to have been retained, confrontations erupt but don't conclude, and characters like Satan, Cunningham, or El-Fayoumy, just fade without resolution. Company One is to be congratulated, however, for attempting this script and including such a range of local actors, including Boston Arts Academy students, in the effort. Not every piece of "fringe" theatre can be successful.



"The Last Days of Judas Iscariot" by Stephen Adly Guirgis", July 14 - Aug. 5

Company One at BCA Plaza Theatre

539 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Company One

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Friday, July 14, 2006

JAY JOHNSON : The Two and Only

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "Jay Johnson: The Two and Only" by Jay Johnson

Date: Thur, July 13, 10:52 PM

Quicktake on JAY JOHNSON: THE TWO AND ONLY

     Jay Johnson's solo show "The Two and Only" is a rather unique exercise. On the one hand, it's the basic small-town American breaks into show-business success story. On the other it's an almost Absurdist peek into the mindset of a ventriloquist, that species of puppeteers whose childhood imaginary friends grow up to be their performing partners. Johnson, along with his directors Murphy Cross and Paul Kreppel, has created a script which includes the history of the art of ventriloquism from its presumed roots in necromancy, his career including the stint on T.V.'s "Soap" and his relationship to his mentor Art Sieving, and a strong sampling of routines with various puppets, including Nethermore the Vulture, a sock puppet snake, a rowdy monkey, and his original partner, Skippy. Bob, from the TV show appears of course, but seems much less relevant, less a partner than a confrontation. As the pieces fall into place, Johnson's life so far has a kind of completeness.

     The show has an interesting set design by Beowulf Boritt, whose work was recently seen on Broadway for "The 25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee." It's various ingenious features are only fully revealed by the end along with Cliff Taylor's lighting design. Suffice it to say that again seemingly incidental ideas achieve resonance as the performance progresses. Johnson's voice characterizations are subtle when need be, but it's his careful puppetry that makes him, along with other current performers such as Jeff Dunham and Ronn Lucas, a master of this form. He's spent most of his career on the nightclub and college circuit, so his rapport with the audience is earnest and easy. He's there to share. Behind the eternal kid with a dummy there's an interesting worldview.



"Jay Johnson: The Two and Only" by Jay Johnson, July 12 - Aug. 6

ART at Zero Arrow Theatre

Arrow St. & Mass. Ave., Harvard Sq.(617) 547 - 8300
A.R.T.

Monday, July 10, 2006

PROOF

From: "will stackman" profwlll.com

Subject: Quicktake- "Proof" by David Auburn

Date: Mon. July 10, 4:30pm

Quicktake on PROOF

    Those who missed this pultizer Prize winner when it came through a few seasons ago, or who haven't caught it otherwise, may want to see it up close and personal in the Black Box Space at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown. I missed it Sunday, but reliable sources were impressed. The cast features Theatre Onmibus's founder and awrd-winning actor Richard McElvain as the dead father and Lindsay Flathers, a recipient of the Irene Ryan Competition(2004) at the Kennedy Center as Catherine, the young--and troubled--mathematician. For details go to http://www.arsenalarts.org/specialevents.html.

    It's a donation show and there's plenty of free parking. There's a bus from Central Sq. Cambridge to Watertown Sq. that passes right by. There are two fancy restaurants near the theatre, and a big food court at the Arsenal Mall just down the street.



"Proof" by David Auburn,July 6 - 23

Theatre Omnibus in Black Box, Arsenal Center for the Arts

Arsenal St. Watertown, (978) 468-5639

Thursday, July 06, 2006

The Beard of Avon

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "The Beard of Avon" by Amy Freed

Date: Wed, July 5, 11:25 PM

Quicktake on THE BeARD OF AVON

     Amy Freed's comedy "The Beard of Avon" is a somewhat show-biz take on the "authorship" question which has engaged some Shakespeare scholars--and not a few crackpots--over the years. Originally commissioned by L.A.'s South Coast Rep in 2001, this racy contemporary farce set in Elizabethan England, plays with the Bard's life and language. Its clever conclusions may offend some of the Oxfordians and will certainly set local Stratfordians quibbling. The rest of the audience gets a good laugh at it all, aided Diego Arciniegas' well-paced direction.

    The central characters are Edward DeVere, the dissolute Earl of Oxford, played by local stalwart Bill Mootos, and Will Shakspere(sic) played by Gabriel Kuttner, last seen in Sugan's "Talking to Terrorists." Publick Theatre regular Eric Hamel plays Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton in a Oscar/Bosey relationship to Devere, while Will is attached to a put-upon Anne Hathaway played by versatile Helen McElwain. The complications which ensue are a mix of period and modern comedy, with plenty of innuendo. The action includes Queen Elizabeth, played in high style by M. Lynda Robinson and the members of the vagabond company Will runs off with. Richard Arum plays John Heminge and Gerald Slattery is Henry Condol, the two actors named in Shakespeare's last will and testament. Ellen Adair has great fun playing Geoffrey Dunderhead, the boy who plays female roles, while Risher Reddick is a blustering Richard Burbage. Barry Press, new to the Publick, who will play Neils Bohr in their "Copenhagen" which opens later in the month, gets to be Old Colin, a Stratford friend of the Shakspere's, Lord Derby, and Walter Fitch, a mistreated playwright. Others in the acting company double as members of the Court; Bacon, Walsingham, Burleigh, and Lady Lettice as well.

     Emerson's Rafael Jaen has provided first class period costumes with contemporary touches--Devere is in leather and McElwain gets to show quite a bit of leg. The stage has been further upgraded and allows Judy Stacier from Tufts to create a variety of environs, well lit by production manager Anthony Phelps, once the sun goes down. Steven Barkhimer has contributed an original score which suggests the period. The ensemble manages to be convincingly Elizabethan while playing in contemporary form. Freed's script doesn't really contribute that much to the "question" but it does raise interesting issues of inspiration. Given the choice between exploring an idea and pulling a gag, "The Beard of Avon"'s more liable to go for the laugh, which results in a pleasant entertainment with a few thoughtful moments.



"The Beard of Avon" by Amy Freed, June 29 - Sept. 3

Publick Theatre at Herter Park

Soldiers Field Rd., Brighton (617) 782 - 5425
Publick Theatre

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Harlequin Refined by Love

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "Harlequin Refined By Love" by Pierre Marivaux

Date: Sat, July 1, 11:26 PM

Quicktake on HARLEQUIN REFINED BY LOVE

     Anyone who's been put off from Pierre Marivaix by the ART's last two autuerial interpretations should get out to Topsfield to catch Iron-Rail's lighthearted adaptation of the first show this rival of Moliere created for the Theatre Italien back in 1720. Matthew Woods has used his young ensemble to present the work as a courtly comedy based on the Commedia with no obvious subtext. The company ran the show two weekends at LynnArts, a new art center in downtown Lynn right across from the commuter rail stop, and will do it again next weekend at the Gould Barn of the Parson Capen House just off the Common in Topsfield

     Arlechino (Harlequin) was played by the leader of the Italian troupe that Marivaux worked for. Dan Balkin takes the part here and finds the right blend of the old slapstick comedy with the poise the king and court required. But before he "wakes" up, Jill Rogati sets the tone of the play as the Fairy Queen's major domo, Trivelin. Her physical control is fully "Dell'Arte." Erin Cole as the Monarch has an effective air of glamour, with an imp, Papillon (Maggie Talbot-Minkin) to drive the action assisted by Ramses King as her sidekick. Besides this adult fairy-tale element, Marivaux has added three pedants, Angelo Bosco as the Philosoph, Jonathan Overby as the Dancing Master, and Ashley Santor as the Music Mistress. Their task is to refine Harlequin as a suitable consort for Her Majesty. It's not hard to guess how that turns out. Rather it's a duo from the pastoral romances that does the trick. Meaghan Dutton is the charming Sylvia who throws aside Damon Jespersen's doltish Dimas for Harlequin, which of course arouses regal ire.

     In other words, there's actually a plot, which develops quite interestingly, even though Merlin, the Queen's fiance never shows up. (It was a small company.). The Neal Rantol Vault Theatre at LynnArts is a black box studio with minimal lighting, which is sufficient for a show written to be lit by chandeliers. Meaghan Dutton did add a few effects and the director supplied (and D.J.'d) a period score. The show is further distinguished by Cotton Talbot-Minkin's interpretation of traditional costumes, which have the right element of whimsy. Only Harlequin is masked; the rest are "made up." The company is working on a show for later in the summer "Good Witch / Bad Witch", which will run Aug. 3 - 12 in Lynn, and 17-19 again in Topsfield. The environment and puppets will be created by Cathy McLaurin. They'll also be participating in a Summer Fringe Festival which Whistler In The Dark is organizing for Sat, Aug. 26th at the Camb. YMCA which will also include Alarm Clock, Dangerous Animal, Mill6, and others. Save the date.



"Harlequin Refined By Love" by Pierre Marivaux, Jun22 - July 1 (Lynn) July6 - 8 (Topsfield)

Iron-Rail Stage Co. at LynnArts

25 Exchange St. Lynn, (978 - 500 - 5553)
Iron-Rail at LynnArts