HOLES

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "Holes" by Louis Sachar

Date: Saturday, Oct 28, 6:12 PM

Quicktake on HOLES

     Fans of Louis Sachar's popular juvenile adventure will enjoy seeing such colorful characters as X-Ray, Armpit. ZigZag, and Zero brought to life. Fan’s of the author’s movie adaptation will recognize the script, which is largely a stage adaptation of his screenplay. There in lies some difficulty for those coming to the tale for the first time. The action is fast and furious as it gets the hero, Stanley Yelnats IV, wrongly accused of theft, from juvenile court to Camp Green Lake, a sinister private rehabiltation facility in the desert. The program is to dig a large hole everyday for no apparent reason. Armando-Carlos Gonzalez, seen last year about this time of year in “The Lord of the Flies.” His best friend, Hector Zeroni, aka Zero, is played by Dan Reulbach, also in “...Flies.” The core of the show is fellow WFT students, including Cyrus Akeem Brooks, Nicholas Carter, Shauday Johnson- Jones, David M. Kalm, and Tadesh Inagaki. The adult, mostly Equity cast includes Whitney Avalon as Kissing Kate Barlow, WST regular Shelley Bolman as Mr. Pendanski. Neil Gustafson as Mr.Sir. Monique Nichole McIntyre, style="font-weight:bold;">Ed Peed as the Sheriff, Marina Re as the mysterious Warden, Darius Omar Williams as Onion Sam, and WST General Manager Jane Staab is madame Zeroni, whose curse on Stanley’s pig-stealing great great grandfather just may be the reason for his troubles. Additional grown-ups include tall Kevin Ashworth as nasty Trout Walker, Wheelock grad Chris Burcato as Stanley’s dad (III) and Rydia Q. Vielehr as Zero’s mom. Most double in other small roles as well. It’s a really big show.

     Director Susan Kosoff, WST’s producer keeps the fragmented action moving, but the result isn’t especially dramatic. Sachar’s dilemma in creating this script was to continue an already successful franchise. He might have been advised to let a more skilled playwright adapt his work to make it less linear, to make the melodrama more consistent, getting all the plot elements better foreshadowed in the first half. The result is still engaging most of the time, though Danila Korogodsky’s modernist unit set somewhat overdoes the “hole” motif and doesn’t capture the feeling of the desert very well. It’s still far better family entertainment than the expensive arena shows which blow into the Wang or the Paramount Opera House.

---

"Holes" by Louis Sachar, Oct.27 - November 26

Wheelock Family Theare

200 The Riverway, Boston, (617) 879 - 2300

Wheelock Family Theatre

The Ice-Breaker

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "The Ice Breaker" by David Rambo

Date: Fri, Oct 27, 11:35 PM

Quicktake on THE ICE BREAKER

     Hollywood veteran David Rambo's "The Ice-Breaker", originally commissioned for the Geffen in L.A. is having part of its National New Play Network's "rolling national premiere" at the New Rep over at the Arsenal Center for the Arts. The piece has the feel of a treatment intended for development in a small film being tried out as a play. As a concept, comparing the immensity of an incipient ice-age to a December/May (June) relationship between an older male scientist in seclusion and a brash young grad student is intriguing if inconclusive. The resulting pedestrian script is however isn't and ultimately banal with a weak payoff. The play has actually very little to say about global warming.

     Will Lyman, the voice of Frontline and Boston's best underworked actor, seen recently as Claudius on the Common, makes a convincing senior scientist, driven to a desert hideaway by academic politics over his controversial ideas and a family tragedy. Amy Russ plays the perennial student of indeterminate years, juvenile because of her lowly academic position. Unfortunately her underwritten role becomes monotonous, dependent on superficial charm and bumptiousness. While Lyman has a deliberate depth to his performance, her's becomes tedious and not very believable. The two sometimes seem to be in two different plays not written by the same author. Too many of her actions are plot devices, from finding his diary in Antartica while there on an punitive Outward Bound visit to finally "getting" the significance of his research. Director David Zoffoli from Merrimack keeps the action going through some fairly dubious passages but ultimately the climax is unconvincing being delivered by mail with a final spotlit scene.

     The New Rep production is good-looking with an effective realistic set by architect Alan Joslin, well lit by David Parichy who's worked with Zoffoli in Lowell. Molly Trainer's costumes done for two people in one setting suggest their academic lack of concern for fashion. David Kahn's passing thunder storm and incidental Southwestern local radio cuts add to the verisimilitude. Supporting new scripts is an important though risky part of today's regional theatre. This one has been done by San Francisco's Magic Theatre and at the Phoenix in Indianapolis. The New Rep presented Philadelphian Thomas Gibbon's "Permanant Collection" in 2004 also under the auspices of the same National New Play initiative. They'll present Austin Pendleton's "Orson's Shadow", which they read successfully in 2003 later this season. It's been seen in NYC and its suburbs.

---

"The Ice Breaker" by David Rambo, Oct. 25 - Nov. 19

New Repertory Theatre at Arsenal Center for the Arts

321 Arsenal St. Watertown , (617) 923 - 8487
New Repertory Theatre

HAIRSPRAY

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "Hairspray" by O'Donnell & Meehan, Shaiman & Wittman

based on film by John Waters

Date: Thurs, Oct 26, 11:30PM

Quicktake on HAIRSPRAY

     See NSMT do the first regional theatre production of "Hairspray", A Tony Award winning musical based on John Waters' 1988 film. Listen to an affectionate parody of a not so affectionate parody, book by Mark O'Donnell & Thomas Meehan, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman. Watch a large energetic cast in costumes originally designed by William Ivey Long, on a set by Howard C. Jones, who's done a dozen or more shows for NSMT. Catch Boscon grad Bridie Carroll as Tracy Turnblad, appropriately padded out and madTV personality Paul C. Vogt as her mother Edna, augmented for and aft. He did the role in the Las Vegas production as well.

     Joining them are Inga Ballard as Motormouth Maybelle, the Black D.J. —once a month—on the TV show based on American Bandstand. Todd DuBail is Corny Collins the M.C. of 20 or so. North Shore favorite . IRNE winner David Coffee plays the show's sponsor, Tracy's high school principal, and Mr. Pinky, who hires her—once she's become a local celebrity—to be a spokesman for his boutique for large women. Tracy's true love, a budding rock & roll singer, Link Larkin is David Larsen, seen in NSMT's "West Side Story" in 2003. The other pair of lovebirds is Sarah Elizabeth Nischwitz as Penny Pingleton, Tracy's best friend and Dashaun Young, as Seaweed J. Stubbs, Maybelle's son.

     The rest of director/choreographer Barry Ivan's integrated ensemble is equally talented and ready to dance the night away. Music director Dale Reiling doesn't stop the beat, except when a ballad is called for. Lighting, sound support, and effects are as usual top-drawer and really cool. The show's message "Can't we all dance together?" is welcome as ever, given the divisiveness in today's society, even when delivered as a modern fairy tale with almost cartoon characters. Welcome to the early '60s.

---

"Hairspray" by O'Donnell & Meehan, Shaiman & Wittman, Oct.24 - Nov. 19

Nortth Shore Music Theatre at Dunham Woods

Dunham Rd., Beverly MA, (978) - 232 -7200
North Shore Music Theatre

HAMLET (ASP)

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "Hamlet" by Wm. Shakespeare + Hamlet Conversation with ASP and S&C

Date: Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Quicktake on HAMLET

     Ben Evett's Actors Shakespeare Project continues to find new ways to look at the canon, without resorting to adaptation or techical trickery. This time they've put the play on the stage of the Strand Theatre, the renovated silent movie palace in Dorchester at Upham's Corner. Evett himself takes the title role under the direction of the New Rep's Rick Lombardo who he's worked with before. The usually eclectic ASP cast is bolstered by Johnny Lee Davenport, who's appeared with S&C and many other Shakespeare companies, as Claudius. He's joined by several other African Americans, including Willie E. Teacher as Horatio and Edward O'Blenis as Laertes. Marya Lowry as Gertrude, Robert Walsh as Polonius, plus Ken Cheeseman as The Ghost, the Player King, and the Gravedigger and Sara Newhouse as both Rosenkrantz and Osric—the first played as a man, the second as a woman—have all appeared previously with ASP. Marianna Bassham, seen at the New Rep and the Lyric, is a heart-wrenching Ophelia. Actors with other Shakespeare credits fill out the 16 member ensemble, including composer Bill Barclay, who performs onstage during "The Mousetrap" and plays the steel cello under it throughout.

     In what may become a regular part of their programme, the company hosted a discussion moderated by Harvard's Steven Greenblatt, with Tina Packer, her husband Dennis Krausnik, and son Jason Asprey from the S&C "family" production of "Hamlet" this summer and Bassham, Davenport, Lowry, Walsh & Evett representing ASP's current effort. Joining them was assistant director Per Jensen from Trinity, where the play was done last season with an "Upstairs/Downstairs" motif plus Steven Maler, who helmed Commonwealth Shakespeare's version on the Common two summer's ago. The points under discussion were illustrated by short scenes performed by members of S&C and ASP to appreciative applause. Maybe next time, the Publick Theatre and Shakespeare Now! can join the fray.

---

""Hamlet" by Wm. Shakespeare, Oct. 19 - Nov. 12

Actors Shakespeare Project at The Strand, Upham's Corner

543 Columbia Rd. Dorchester, 1 (866) 811 - 4111
A.S.P

9 Parts of Desire

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "9 Parts of Desire" by Heather Raffo

Date: Sun. Oct. 22, PM

Quicktake on 9 PARTS OF DESIRE

     Heather Raffo's "9 Parts of Desire" is a unique sole show based of interviews with Iraqi women, composited down into 9 distinct characters. While Raffo performs her award-winning piece in Washington DC, Lanna Joffrey takes up the headscarf and burka on the Lyric Stage in Copley Sq. Award-winning director Carmel O'Reilly helps her conjure up these troubled women on a unique thrust unit set created by her frequent collaborator, J. Michael Griggs from Harvard, well lit by the Lyric's own Rob Cordella. Rafael Jaen from Emerson provides a range costume accessories to distinguish between the several woman. There are definite elements of tragedy in this theatrical collage, but these woman forge on, seeking love, seeking security for their families and their country. They range from a elderly leftist exile in London to a Baghdad teenager confined to her house. They all blend into a powerful indictment of the foreign policy blunders which led to the current endless occupation without getting into politics, but concentrating on individual human consequences.

---

"9 Parts of Desire" by Heather Raffo, Oct.20 - Nov. 8

Lyric Stage Co. at Copley YWCA

140 Clarendon, (617) 585 - 5678
Lyric Stage Co.

Around the World in 80 Days

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "Around the World in 80 Days" by Mark Brown, adapted from Jules Verne

Date: Fri, Oct 20,

Quicktake on AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS

     Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days" was first adapted to the stage by the author himself for a spectacular production in Paris around the turn of the 19th century This breezy novel is best remembered for Mike Todd's blockbuster film done about 50 years ago. Mark Brown's recent adaptation, seen around the country, is having its first outing in the Boston area at the Stoneham Theatre for the next three weeks. With only five cast members, a lot of simple costume changes, and enough props, it probably won't be the last time this amiable adventure/farce is seen in these parts.

     The story revolves around an eccentrically orderly English gentleman, played with his usual aplomb by IRNE winner Steven Barkhimer, one Phileas Fogg, Esq., who makes a bet with members of his club that he can circumnavigate the globe in 80 days. His main companion on this exciting journey is his new valet, Passepartout, played by Christopher Brophy, first seen locally at Stoneham. Brophy won his IRNE for the role of Shane Muggitt in Speakeasy/BTW's award-winning "Take Me Out." All the rest of the parts are taken by three actors. Petite Eve Kagan, seen last spring in Sugan's "Talking with Terrorists," plays various servants and supernumeraries, but by the middle of the first act has taken on the role of Aouda, the Indian beauty Passepartout and Fogg rescue from suttee. Antic Victor Warren, who was seen last seaon in the title role of Margulies "Brooklyn Boy" for Speakeasy, is persistent Detective Fix, when he's not playing everything from a member of the Reform Club to the driver of a train in the Old West. Veteran comedian Robert Saoud, seen in the season opener "You Never Know," plays so many parts, from ship captains, several pukka sahibs, various authorities and even a U.S.Cavalry colonel, that he's designated as Actor 1 in this story theatre ensemble. Director Weylin Symes keeps his solid cast scurrying up and down the complex levels or zipping offstage to change into their next costume while Barkhimer forges serenely on.

     The effective unit set is another architectural creation by Cristina Todesco, backed by a projection screen which alternately displays backgrounds or a world map. This changing backdrop is flanked by signs for the major cities Fogg passes through on his journey which are illuminated in sequence. Rachel Padula Shufelt has provided an array of costume pieces which allow the ensemble to create about 40 characters during this two hour show. Sound designer Nathan Leigh and lighting designer Mark Lanks help keep the whirlwind trip going. Once again the short trip out to Stoneham is worth taking.

---

"Around the World in 80 Days" by Mark Brown, Oct.19 - Nov. 8

Stoneham Theatre

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

MAURITIUS

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - " Mauritius" by Theresa Rebeck

Date: Wed. Oct. 18, 11:33 PM

Quicktake on MAURITIUS

    Theresa Rebeck's new play " Mauritius" is receiving a powerhouse world premiere on the Huntington Theatre Co.s Wimberley stage at the BCA. The script, which was developed at Lark in NYC was read last spring during HTC's Breaking Ground series. It's since under gone further rewrites and is being directed by Woolly Mammoth's Rebecca Bayla Taichman , who's also continuing her collaboration with Rebeck in a remounting of "The Scene" at Second Stage in NYC. That show ran at last year's Humana Festival. Rebeck also opened another new play, "The Water's Edge" at Second Stage last spring.

    "Mauritius" is a modern melodrama with humorous overtones involving sibling rivalry and stamp collecting. The latter obsession allows for the plot complication, the former defines the character development. The excellent five actor ensemble centers around wild child Jackie played by Obie winner Marin Ireland and prim Mary, her older half-sister, played by Boston's favorite Canadian actress, Norton winner and Brandeis MFA, Laura Latreille. Their struggle is over Mary's grandfather's stamp collection which has been in their mother's possession since his death. Jackie wants to sell, Mary claims sentimental attachment and rightful ownership, even though she's not been around for a long time. Jackie, who took care of their mother during her long decline due to cancer has already started trying to find out what the collection's worth.

    The album contains two legendary very early "error" stamps from the British colony of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. She's met with seeming indifference from seedy stamp dealer, Peter, played by Robert Dorfman and been romanced by slick young operator, Dennis, played by Michael Aronov, who she meets at the stamp shop. Dennis ultimately makes a deal for her with a wealthy collector, belligerent Sterling, a shady Brit played by James Gale. And that;s just the start of the plot.

    While the show is predicated on past relations between Jackie and Mary leading to their present situation, between hanger-on Dennis and Peter, which seems somehow paternal, and some sort of prior incident between Peter and Sterling, the play, like most melodramas is about present actions. The ensemble does somehow seem like a tight dysfunctional family however, given to extended monologues, simultaneous arguments at crosspurposes, and devious often farcical personal confrontations. Jackie is the primary focus but Mary comes on strong in the pinch. Dennis is less a villain than a trickster, looking for excitement in the main chance. Further tweaking, when and if the show finds a future production, will heighten the intrigue.

    HTC as usual hasn't stinted on production values. Trinity's Eugene Lee, whose last Obie was for "Wicked," who got an IRNE for "Top Dog..." has created a very detailed shabby office as the main scene, with wagons which come out of the walls for alternate locations. Costumes chosen by peripetatic Miranda Hoffman and jarring original music by Martin Desjardins add unique touches. The script may undergo further development to tie up loose ends but is a crackling show at the moment.

---

" Mauritius" by Theresa Rebeck, Oct. 6 - Nov.12

Huntington Theatre Co. in Wimberley Theatre

BCA Calderwood, 539 Tremont, Boston / (617) 933 - 8600

HTC

A Night in November

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "A Night In November" by Marie Jones

Date: Fri, Oct 13, 10:58 PM

Quicktake on A NIGHT IN NOVEMBER

     The mystical art of the shannachie is alive and kicking at Jimmy Tingle's Off-Broadway in Davis Sq. Somerville through Thanksgiving. Award-winning actor Marty Maguire, using a one-man comedy written by Marie Jones, brings Kenneth Norman McAllister, a Belfast Protestant, and some forty of his countrymen--and women--to uproarious life. More than that, he and the author turn Kenneth's mid-life crisis into what could be taken for a religious conversion, from a thoughtless bigot into a bona fide Irishman, in a show which swoops from laughter to tears as a real story should.

    Jones, whose "Stones in His Pockets" was an instant classic, starts this tale, once upon a time, on "A Night in November" when Kenneth begins to realize how hollow his lower-middle class existence as a dole-clerk has become when he takes his nicotine-fiend father-in-law to a crucial soccer match between Northern Ireland and the Republic, and is ashamed at how completely prejudiced the old hooligan is. His frustration mounts with his wife, his job, his social friends and the dismal political stalemate under which he lives. The comic absurdity of it all becomes maddening. There's no way out. But of course there is. Jones sends him on an impulse off to New York the next April to be close to the World Cup competition. The result is even more hilarious and ultimately uplifting. Like any good fable there's a chance McAllister might just live happier when he goes back to Belfast.

    This energetic one-man show is perfectly suited for JTOB, which is set up cabaret style. The only set is a stack of boxes, red white and blue at first, representing McAllister's Unionist background. A suit coat, a red cardigan, and a football supporters T-shirt are Maguire's sole costume changes/props. The backdrop is an out-of-focus mural of soccer fans in the stands. Minimal lighting effects help change the scene, particularly for our man's inner monologues. Maguire first appeared in one of Marie Jones plays in Ireland in 1986 and this script could well have been written with this versatile actor in mind. He first presented "A Night in November" in L.A. , then at the 2002 Edinburgh Festival, followed by two soldout runs at the Tricycle in London, two runs in Dublin, and back to L.A. where it won two Ovation Awards in 2005. Recently Maguire appeared at the Edinburgh Festival in Jones latest play, "The Blind Fiddler."

     Many impressive shows from the contemporary Irish theatre have been seen in Boston, and this comic jewel, directed by Tim Byron Owen, is up with the best of them. JTOB in Davis Sq. is easy to get to on the Red Line, there are dinner packages available, and the Burren just next door upstairs. Guinness and Harp are available at the refreshment stand as well. Shows start at 7:30 pm evenings, Sunday matinees at 3pm. Come early for the best seats and something before the show.

---

"A Night In November" by Marie Jones, Oct.11 - Nov. 26

at Jimmy Tingle's Off-Broadway

255 Elm St. Davis Sq, Somerville (866) 811-4111
JTOB

By the Bog of Cats

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "By the Bog of Cats" by Marina Carr

Date: Thurs. Oct. 12, 11:23 PM

Quicktake on BY THE BOG OF CATS

     Marina's Carr's country tragedy, "By the Bog of Cats," owes a bit of its inevitability to Euripides, but at least as much to J.M.Synge. The violence in the show marks it as contemporary while its poetic diction plus touches of the supernatural make piece unmistakably Irish. The Devanaughn Theatre, under Rose Carlson's direction, manages to make a complex and ingrown plot come together in the confines of their brick box in the basement of the Piano Factory. More extensive scenic background and less cumbersome changes would help create a stronger air of magic realism, though the full-sized "caravan" stage left is impressive.

    The ensemble cast revolves around Hester Swane, the daughter of the Travelin' People, played by Abbey Theatre veteran Dani Duggan, who's the current producing artistic director of the company. Hester's been thrown over by Carthage Kilbride, a local lad, played by Charles Hess. They have a young daughter, Josie, named for her grandmother, played on alternate nights by Holly Payne-Strange & Sarah Smith. Carthage believes he has bought Hester off and is marrying the daughter of a rich neighbor, Xavier Cassidy, played by Phil Thompson. His new love is Caroline, played by Ellen Adair, The source of this basic tale is of course "Medea". But Hester first appears carrying a dead black swan, an old friend which she buries, but not before being accosted by a mysterious Ghost Fancier, played by Jordan Harrison, and engaging in gossipy exposition with her oldest friend Monica, played by Jean Sheikh. She also gets a visit from the Catwoman, a blind seer, played quite spookily by Liz Robbins. Jordan shows up in act two as a waiter and the ghost of Hester's brother. Fred Robbins also appears briefly in the second act as dotty old Father Willow, the parish priest.

     The cast manages acceptable Irish accents, though Duggan's more accurate Midlands brogue is not always immediately comprehensible amidst the Americanized sound. Nothing important gets lost however. Within scenes the action makes good use of the limited space. The lighting is servicable, though a more elaborate plot would support the varied scenes more fully. The original music by Katie McDonnell adds an appropriate touch. There's a sense of commitment to the play which definitely helps the show.

---

"By the Bog of Cats" by Marina Carr, Oct. 12 - 29

Devanaughn, back of the Piano Factory

791 Tremont, (617) 247 - 9777

Devanaughn Theatre

Little Shop - Animus

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "Little Shop of Horrors" by Ashman & Menken

Date: Sat, October 7, 11:10 PM

Quicktake on LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

     The most important character in Howard Ashman & Alan Menken's first hit show is Audrey II, a "strange and unusual plant" usually done with puppets, from a small sock type to a giant body puppet. For their "Little Shop of Horrors", John Ambrosino and his Animus Ensemble are trying something different. Veteran Boston rocker Neil Chapman, dressed in a green Capitol Records T-shirt is the villainous talking and singing vegetable. He's first rolled onstage in a little red wagon, but soon stands tall and as A2 grows gets three dancers, Melissa Ham-Ellis, Christin Fagone, and Maria Larossa as tendrils. Choreographer Josie Bray, the group's other Artistic Director, gets the whole cast dancing as part of the plant by the end, except of course by the girl group, Chiffon, Crystal, and Ronette aka Heather Fry, Emilie Battle, and Sehri Wickliffe. The latter two are both music theatre students at BosCon while Princeton grad Fry will be directing Geo. C. Wolfe's "The Colored Museum," Animus' show next April.

     The show, as everyone will remember, takes place in a Skid Row flower shop. The owner, Mr. Mushnik is done by Eric Ruben, seen last spring in the company's "Once Upon a Mattress" as the King, and at the New Rep in "Into the Woods" the year before. His clerk, Audrey (1) is Erin Tchoukaleff, who was Lady Larkin last spring and Sylvia midseason in "Promises, Promises," bringing her distinctive soprano to the role. Audrey's boyfriend Orin, the evil dentist, is Turtle Lane regular Jim Jordan, who was also in Animus' "...Mattress" and "Promises..." Jordan also essays a variety of walkons. His counterpart, who does all but one of the female cameos and the doorbell is Perri Lauren. And at the center of it all as Seymour the orphan is Christian Kiley, who's done shows with Reagle. His naive sound blends well with the other voices in the show. Music director Robert Mollicone at the keyboard, backed by electric bass and drums keeps the score hopping along and is well served by the ensemble. This show rocks! "Little Shop..." has two more weekends to go. Real fans will also want to catch Turtle Lane's version which plays from mid-November through the holidays.

---

"Little Shop of Horrors", book & lyrics by Howard Ashman, music - Alan Menken, Oct. 6-21

Animus Ensemble at BCA Plaza Theatre

539 Tremont, (617 933-8600)
Animus Ensemble

ALMOST ASLEEP

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "Almost Asleep" by Julie Hebert

Date: Wed, Oct 4, 11:32 PM

Quicktake on ALMOST ASLEEP

     One of the innovative companies producing at the old firehouse at the base of Bunker Hill Ave. in Charlestown, a few blocks from the Sullivan Sq. T-stop on the Orange Line is Molasses Tank Productions. Their fall offering is Julie Hebert's short but intense drama, "Almost Asleep." This ensemble piece is essentially a nightmare, as a woman's persona fragments into five characters. Susan Gross plays The Chatterer, who recounts a brutal encounter which an incident at work earlier in the day has brought back to mind. Becca A. Lewis is The Sleeper, who is able to repress this past--much of the time. Wendy Nystrom is The Dreamer, who tries to make sense of her fears. Kristin Shoop is The Fool, who survives by childlike play. And Loann West, who also did the set and costumes, is The Warrior, a strong and bitter realist.

     Artistic director Steve Rotolo, one of the group's founders, has staged the piece simply, allowing the poetic flow of words, which occasionally overlap, to build a dense abstract of this unnamed woman's mental turmoil, a mix of fear and hope. "Almost Asleep" builds to a crescendo and fades on an image. The show is less than an hour long, but just long enough. The author had worked with various contemporary theatre groups, several on the West Coast, and is currently writing for the Scott brothers T.V. hit, NUMB3RS.

    The Charlestown Working Theatre has a number of interesting shows scheduled this year. Next up is a brief visit at the end of the month by a mask and movement duo from Brelin, Theatre Kranevit, perrforming a piece based on the Bros. Grimm, followed in mid-November by the Obie-winning Great Small Works performing their latest effort, "The Rapture Project". This Greenwich Village/Cambridge based tabletop puppet company continues to create sharp political shows. CWT is only a short walk from the Sullivan Sq. Station on the Orange Line. Park at that lot or come abit bit earlier and find street parking nearby.

---

"Almost Asleep" by Julie Hebert, Oct. 5 - 21

Molasses Tank Theatre at Charlestown Working Theatre

442 Bunker Hill Ave., Charlestown, (617)242.3285
Molasses Tank