tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21399217230205740362024-03-12T19:59:25.550-07:00Night-Tinted GlassesZahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.comBlogger739125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-2539750212690485632024-03-04T11:35:00.000-08:002024-03-08T06:05:00.208-08:00Fatherland (review)<p><b><i><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Spoilers ahoy! </span></i></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtNwV9q0xKXy1ATzGOG17D8V15elGTICawDPVhL_1CGHekXvE2xHMrP62PzSGz_8vqncKv7JxpnohtkYmi-2o0aYO4hPku8CymZ0bi9Eizz3mwgAyU_iwydLNkjswLqpE8iBGzK1GdKkCVAJjCkppGmilQoYiao88QhlZqUuNHNUX_XEn4_LQZcBhKq26s/s496/Fatherland_Key-Art_V-vsm-2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="350" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtNwV9q0xKXy1ATzGOG17D8V15elGTICawDPVhL_1CGHekXvE2xHMrP62PzSGz_8vqncKv7JxpnohtkYmi-2o0aYO4hPku8CymZ0bi9Eizz3mwgAyU_iwydLNkjswLqpE8iBGzK1GdKkCVAJjCkppGmilQoYiao88QhlZqUuNHNUX_XEn4_LQZcBhKq26s/w311-h440/Fatherland_Key-Art_V-vsm-2.jpg" width="311" /></a></div><br /> The whole idea behind the new show at the <a href="https://www.fountaintheatre.com" target="_blank">Fountain Theatre</a> is one of vast promise. Conceived and directed by <i>Stephen Sachs</i>, and titled <b><u><i>Fatherland</i></u></b>, it recounts a true story using nothing but court records and public statements. It focuses upon a Son (<i>Patrick Keleher</i>) who feels the need to turn in his own Father (<i>Ron Bottitta</i>) to the FBI for taking part in the January 6 Insurrection. <p></p><p>No one needs to guess at the amount of drama inherent in this. A fear lingered, that the play would just be a polemic, preaching to me for things I already knew or agreed with, or simply giving me some extra data regarding this bit of recent history.</p><p>But my fear of just getting a lecture proved totally unfounded. The focus here remained utterly and precisely on the human and humane parts of this tragedy. Imagine the personal devastation of such a thing. We're not talking about someone who belonged to the KKK, promoting conspiracy theories 24/7, and/or taking his family to some kind of survivalist cult camp flying a red, white, and blue swastika. Just as that stereotype does not fit the vast majority of those screaming "Stop The Steal" and treating a con-man who inherited millions as some kind of messiah/genius. </p><p>No, this man and his son (<i>the performances are nothing less than stellar</i>) are people who reacted to a downturn in their lives with very different ways. We see the human trajectory take place, to mutually tragic ends as each hold on to a world view that makes demands on them. Each meet those demands--and it rips both of them open, down to the bone and soul. We see the love they have for each other, even as things spiral beyond any point of no return. </p><p>Except, "no return" does not mean eternal schism, does not preclude healing and forgiveness. What happens on stage proves genuinely horrible, recreated unflinchingly by the entire cast including those playing the US Attorney (<i>Anna Khaja</i>) prosecuting the case against the Father, and the Defense Attorney (<i>Larry Poindexter</i>) who deftly does his duty to defend his client by emotionally eviscerating the man's Son on the witness stand. Yet, again, in the end we don't see anyone as a monster. Everyone does their duty as they see it. The play has a point of view, one with which I personally heartily agree, but instead of hammer those ideas into our heads, instead it invites us to feel the wounds as every person on stage hurts someone else. Because they have to. </p><p><b><i><u><a href="https://www.fountaintheatre.com/events/fatherland" target="_blank">Fatherland</a></u></i></b><span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> is currently scheduled to play Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm until March 30, 2024. However, I spoke to members of the amazing cast and learned the show will almost certainly be extended. </span><b><i><span style="color: #01ffff;">Note: It has been extended, to May 26, 2024!</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span></i></b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> Performances take place at the Fountain Theatre at 5060 Fountain Ave. (at Normandie) Los Angeles CA 90029</span></span></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-72800324413185183682024-03-01T11:41:00.000-08:002024-03-01T11:41:43.951-08:00Sweeney Todd 2024 (review)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheJRqE_LAHycyG1HsCsPn5Ku4vWojYnKgUQNdIYDJLgPsPNy17PksYKCXOa5DDEmmIMYFYWGtiaklJpXuNkg5ag-aByh-i9jdRa4MVHFW4SxuVCXsNYW0G7q4_JDzAmJ_YOLuoPdWfqJgCvvZUu0k_IJWbCrVwrfrku4aZfuzvVqTOHSGfOTuVp95RzMl2/s675/SweeneyTodd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="450" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheJRqE_LAHycyG1HsCsPn5Ku4vWojYnKgUQNdIYDJLgPsPNy17PksYKCXOa5DDEmmIMYFYWGtiaklJpXuNkg5ag-aByh-i9jdRa4MVHFW4SxuVCXsNYW0G7q4_JDzAmJ_YOLuoPdWfqJgCvvZUu0k_IJWbCrVwrfrku4aZfuzvVqTOHSGfOTuVp95RzMl2/w319-h480/SweeneyTodd.jpg" width="319" /></a></div><br /><b><i><span style="color: #990000;">Spoilers ahoy! </span></i></b><p></p><p>This marks the sixth production I have seen of what is arguably <i>Stephen Sondheim</i>'s most gothic work--an eerie, strangely funny, and nearly always very beautiful musical/operetta about a figure from the cheapest of Victorian literature forms--the "penny dreadful."</p><p>Based on an adaptation by Christopher Bond that gave a motive to the "Demon Barber of Fleet Street" <a href="https://www.anoisewithin.org" target="_blank"><i><b>Sweeney Todd</b></i></a> allows productions to really go to down. So many rich characters! So many ways to make this weird almost steampunk nightmare can be brought on stage!</p><p>Yet, strangely, most productions seek to copy either the movie or some other already popular production. One of the many, many reasons I loved A Noise Within's current version is how much they avoided that. In fact, several times I was absolutely startled! A slightly rare and often delightful event in seeing a show I know so well.</p><p>The basic plot is almost simple. Todd (<i>Geoff Elliott</i>) arrives in early Victorian London with a sailor named Anthony (<i>James Everts</i>), but is filled with rage and loathing towards the city. He goes and finds Mrs. Lovett (<i>Cassandra Marie Murphy</i>), who runs a meat pie shop under an old flat no one will rent because people say it is haunted. It turns out something happened there years and years ago--when Todd was a happily married barber with a beautiful wife and infant daughter, transported to penal servitude for life by one Judge Turpin (<i>Jeremy Robb</i>) who lusted after Todd's wife. His accomplice in all this was his Beadle (<i>Harrison White</i>).</p><p>Todd's frustrations lead to a solemn and insane declaration of how "WE ALL DESERVE TO DIE!" He becomes what we could call a serial killer, with Mrs. Lovett insisting they use his victims as a source of meat for her pies. The last notion becomes one of the most iconic and funny songs in musical history.</p><p>Amid all of this Anthony becomes the love interest of Johanna (<i>Joanna A. Jones</i>), Todd's daughter and Judge Turpin's now-ward. Another barber named Pirelli (Kasey Mahaffy), a street urchin named Toby (Josey Montana McCoy), and mad Beggar Woman (Amber Liekhus) all weave their way into this story, under the direction of <i>Julia Rodriguez-Elliott</i>. It all makes for macabre comedy and tragedy at the same time, a little bit of grand guignol blended with Charles Dickens and sprinkled with some George Bernard Shaw. </p><p>While it is not perfect--there are a few nuances that struck a wrong note for me, but in questioning other audience members no one else seemed bothered, so I'm not describing them is worthwhile. I'd rather discuss what was new and delightfully different--like the sexual tension between Mrs. Lovett and Toby, the way Todd himself came across as a total psychopath (which to be honest took a little of the passion away from the tale), the chorus members feeling as if they are individuals in this dark world, the extraordinary staging of many set pieces (not least the murders as well as the oven). </p><p><span style="color: #990000;">Performances of </span><i style="color: #990000;"><b><u>Sweeney Todd</u></b></i><span style="color: #990000;"> take place February 17 through March 17 on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sundays at 2 p.m. A Noise Within is located at 3352 E Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107</span></p><p><br /></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-67356457079353358082024-02-12T14:08:00.000-08:002024-02-12T14:08:02.733-08:00Betrayal (review)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5slNMVjBxw2MhcA1bJ-mm7L20QH9NNLt-a2U1y0dKeW_rYbd43W5EQo2OQimG_BSJ5r_gsCDpercwV6G_jvD00hlDodNrCU2Lp0QJQEQuhEOmCd3-bEDmeQ17FzRxyY9CqqzYoDOYuZ8LDABJVpfe2C-SmsVS3iQ-hvcqa_-CpnR6t_zh7g1u848XnzQS/s1024/Betrayal-Postcard-FRONT-2024-01-21-731x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="731" height="435" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5slNMVjBxw2MhcA1bJ-mm7L20QH9NNLt-a2U1y0dKeW_rYbd43W5EQo2OQimG_BSJ5r_gsCDpercwV6G_jvD00hlDodNrCU2Lp0QJQEQuhEOmCd3-bEDmeQ17FzRxyY9CqqzYoDOYuZ8LDABJVpfe2C-SmsVS3iQ-hvcqa_-CpnR6t_zh7g1u848XnzQS/w310-h435/Betrayal-Postcard-FRONT-2024-01-21-731x1024.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><br /><b><i><span style="color: red;">Spoilers ahoy!</span></i></b><p></p><p><i>Harold Pinter</i> won the Nobel Prize in literature, which is way impressive. As a writer he managed to write silences into his plays which were filled with meaning, and forced actors to plumb the text for meanings by having them say the same lines several times. It makes for quite a challenge--one met magnificently by the latest production of <b><i><u><span style="color: red;">Betrayal</span></u></i></b> by Santa Monica's <a href="https://citygarage.org" target="_blank">CityGarage</a>.</p><p>Frankly, been looking forward to this ever since they announced it on the schedule and even more when I read the cast.</p><p>Essentially, the play tells the story of an affair. Emma (<i>Angela Beyer</i>) is married to book publisher Robert (<i>David E. Frank</i>) but had/has had a long term affair with his best friend Jerry (<i>Troy Dunn</i>). If this sounds a little too straightforward, even mundane for Pinter, never you worry. What follows is a sometimes scorching, sometimes hilarious, always intriguing exploration of human relations. Aiding in all this is how the scenes generally (but not quite always) proceed in reverse chronological order, namely starting with a meeting years after the affair has ended and ending with the scene in which that new relationship was truly born. Helping all this is a a character known simply as the Waiter (<i>Gifford Irving</i>) who wanders around the scenes in which his character does not appear simply to tell the audience when what follows happens.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiIw7H8ptzrW_BYa7F1YePW6VQGDO58Pfc_3Zqp1Dad1D35W5Rrm-84WkfSJXqtsd5_ifFk7PoUuWlslJ0UfKh5bh_JyDkMBgj-S16wIc6_EhEqKr5b9Rmnz6dPGtmVM6oUjFl58LpwCGR1UU2H2DyO2Qzs64jnheL0E7vzQcWX3aPUz8gz1zCKXuN9xM0/s1515/Opera%20Snapshot_2024-02-12_134605_citygarage.org.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="1515" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiIw7H8ptzrW_BYa7F1YePW6VQGDO58Pfc_3Zqp1Dad1D35W5Rrm-84WkfSJXqtsd5_ifFk7PoUuWlslJ0UfKh5bh_JyDkMBgj-S16wIc6_EhEqKr5b9Rmnz6dPGtmVM6oUjFl58LpwCGR1UU2H2DyO2Qzs64jnheL0E7vzQcWX3aPUz8gz1zCKXuN9xM0/s320/Opera%20Snapshot_2024-02-12_134605_citygarage.org.png" width="320" /></a></div>This last is a tiny addition from director <i>Frederique Michel</i>. Personally, even though I understood the chronology (did the role of Waiter at my University), this helped me keep track.<div><br /></div><div>But what really grabs our attention and hearts are the performances. Again, Pinter masterfully forces actors to examine what the words coming out of their mouths really mean. In the hands of these actors, the results often astound. The meaning of the word "squash" for example changes dramatically as events proceed. All too often current styles of acting consist of treating lines casually--which in theatre at least nearly always turns out to be a dreadful error. In <b><i><u><span style="color: red;">Betrayal</span></u></i></b> every word matters, and given its author so too nearly every single silence, i.e. the words not said. Maybe never even considered for speaking. </div><div><br /></div><div>One result of this is a constant state of surprise. Predicting what is about to happen simply doesn't work. Oh, we know some of the results already. The play began at the ending after all! But the play isn't about the plot, but about the human relationships--the thousand thousand tiny moments, the words said or stammered or whispered or spat. Every question asked, and answered (or not) assumes enormous weight--the weight of lives and hopes and disappointments. Even the tiny, meaningless lies. Or the tiny, seemingly meaningless details. Whose kitchen was it when Jerry did that thing? Where did Robert go in Venice, and how? When did Emma tell her husband that secret? </div><div><br /></div><div>Trivial and momentous at the same time and for the same reason.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: red;"><b><i><u><a href="https://citygarage.org" target="_blank">Betrayal</a></u></i></b> plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 4pm until March 17, 2024 at Bergamot T1 Space, 2525 Michigan Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90404.</span><p><br /></p></div>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-6612200838654231162024-01-01T09:03:00.000-08:002024-01-01T09:03:39.419-08:00Best of 2023<p><b><i> </i></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkwVGLdRtsd1kdhpMqP6ewa4xGfTEfymgYLHt7-qBU2f9M9NFm-mezp61PqzgGd6cHTf_qqByXkb36ILMmv9T_Eb6zen5m8A1NOmZ5_wzRhoIWjeZMSPg8KnHB6OHXoiHQrD897E4CkvDqRjbKMloQm-Wu5LekYMzqaeS9w3U9kF22SlXWL0Zt2Zv-e2h/s800/image_2024-01-01_090225217.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkwVGLdRtsd1kdhpMqP6ewa4xGfTEfymgYLHt7-qBU2f9M9NFm-mezp61PqzgGd6cHTf_qqByXkb36ILMmv9T_Eb6zen5m8A1NOmZ5_wzRhoIWjeZMSPg8KnHB6OHXoiHQrD897E4CkvDqRjbKMloQm-Wu5LekYMzqaeS9w3U9kF22SlXWL0Zt2Zv-e2h/w399-h266/image_2024-01-01_090225217.png" width="399" /></a></i></b></div><b><i><span style="color: red;">Ha</span><span style="color: #04ff00;">pp</span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">y N</span><span style="color: #ff00fe;">ew</span> <span style="color: red;">Ye</span><span style="color: #04ff00;">ar!</span></i></b><p></p><p>Behold my list of the best half dozen plays I reviewed in 2023. Usually this list is longer, but honestly I've been going through a lot this year. Lost my twin brother. Had a series of teeth removed. Had to help a friend move to Las Vegas. And directed a ten minute play for Fierce Backbone's <b><i><u>Think and Imagine Festival</u></i></b>. Plus...well, a lot of things. Good and bad. Horrific and glorious. Yeah, I watch the news.</p><p><a href="http://zahirblue.blogspot.com/2023/08/twelfth-night-burlesque.html" target="_blank">Twelfth Night (Burlesque)</a> is honestly the single best version of my favorite Shakespeare comedy I've seen. Joins my favorites from the Bard here in LA such as <i>Measure for Measure, Othello, Romeo and Juliet</i>, and <i>The Tempest</i> as well as <i>Macbeth</i>. </p><p><a href="http://zahirblue.blogspot.com/2023/06/things-to-avoid-in-eulogy-fringe-2023.html" target="_blank">Things to Avoid at a Eulogy</a> was written by a friend of mine, and is that rather rare beast of a perfect two hander, i.e. there are only two characters for the entire play (unless you count the dead cat, which I reluctantly do not). A trip through a brief, loving friendship.</p><p><a href="http://zahirblue.blogspot.com/2023/02/the-lifespan-of-fact-review.html" target="_blank">The Lifespan of a Fact</a> proves one of the most compelling plays I've seen in a long while. Have very rarely been disappointed at the Fountain. In this case, we confront the issue of TRUTH with it many tricky facets but also the difference between truth and facts.</p><p><a href="http://zahirblue.blogspot.com/2023/05/everything-starts-like-knock-on-door.html" target="_blank">Everything Starts Like a Knock on the Door</a> was a one of a series of immersive telephone calls from my friend Stepy Kamei, this one about yet another of her great obsessions--people remembered for their deaths, rather than celebrated for their lives.</p><p><a href="http://zahirblue.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-turn-of-screw-review.html" target="_blank">Turn of the Screw</a> is rightfully a gothic classic, and when nailed is amazing amid its ambiguities and harsh realities. One of the amazing things about live theatre is to see this entire story done with only two actors!</p><p><a href="http://zahirblue.blogspot.com/2023/09/ghost-land-review.html" target="_blank">Ghost Land</a> was written by a Ukrainian playwright and City Garage put it on with a thunderclap to the soul. When the revelation comes of what we've been watching it shook me. Absolutely glorious.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-16557361658778630622023-11-21T18:56:00.000-08:002023-11-21T18:56:51.879-08:00Insulted, Belarus (review)<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKxE2K2tUWCkpn4KIdXOWzDXu_puNTyXBSeQdr7NZlpYNDBee5Us2L2FYolBU0pvYWKoNa-0adULO8OXGGH4-aFXvG1cos2C1YQP0tQ9pphNiKZs2F6spzCcuZxDT-lsp2T-ehr3ipB9Xbl-EWaINy6Qd2Hef6NmMROHoN8DNEs9bZFn3rhUS0iRIOeW8e/s1280/Insulted%20Belarus%20Postcard%20FRONT%2010.29.23.jpeg" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="916" height="483" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKxE2K2tUWCkpn4KIdXOWzDXu_puNTyXBSeQdr7NZlpYNDBee5Us2L2FYolBU0pvYWKoNa-0adULO8OXGGH4-aFXvG1cos2C1YQP0tQ9pphNiKZs2F6spzCcuZxDT-lsp2T-ehr3ipB9Xbl-EWaINy6Qd2Hef6NmMROHoN8DNEs9bZFn3rhUS0iRIOeW8e/w345-h483/Insulted%20Belarus%20Postcard%20FRONT%2010.29.23.jpeg" width="345" /></a><b><i><span style="color: red;">Spoilers ahoy!</span></i></b></p><p>Until I saw this play, I don't think the name <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Lukashenko" target="_blank">Lukashenko</a> had ever registered with me. He is a dictator in the land-locked country of Belarus, near Romania. Playwright <i>Andrei Kureichik</i> was smuggled out of that country after the dictator cracked down on the country and all dissent in a big, big way. Weirdly (in light of what has been going on in the USA), he held a sham election and this time people tried to call him out on that. His reaction was brutal violence.</p><p><b><i><u><a href="https://citygarage.org/2023/10/18/insulted/" target="_blank">Insulted, Belarus</a></u></i></b> (translated by <i>John Freedman</i>) tells the tale, Reader's Theatre style, of that election and its horrific aftermath. But more than that, it portrayed the hopes of those who thought maybe this time they could topple a dictator by the rules he said he was going to obey (but never, ever had). This was the real thing, played with chilling, shallow malice (<i>Randall Wulff</i>). A optimist election witness (<i>Devin Davis-Lorton</i>), a candidate (<i>Angela Beyer</i>) seeking to unseat the dictator, a hooligan/protestor (<i>Anthony M. Sannazzaro</i>), they all wanted to change things. Just as a storm-trooper (<i>Andrew Loviska</i>), and a school principal (<i>Juliet Morrison</i>) want things to stay the same, and don't care who gets hurt, maimed, violated, or even killed. Not at first.</p><p>Add to the mix the dictator's youngest son (<i>Courtney Brechemin</i>) exactly as shallow and selfish as his father, but with the excuse of childhood. A kind of weird mirror/echo to the dictator.</p><p>Powerful stuff. And topical. Performed by one of the best theatre companies in the Los Angeles area. More, this play works in stirring up emotions. The performances are all good. As expected with this company!</p><p>It is also less good that what I've come to expect. Nowhere near bad, or even average. In fact it remains a very worthwhile piece of theatre! But...less excellent than expected. And I think the reason lies in the whole Readers' Theatre format, which forces pretty much the entire cast to directly interact with the audience for most of the performance. This is hard. Honestly, the audience can almost never give anything to the actors in this situation. It is as if the cast are stuck doing ninety minutes of very intense monologues. It is very hard And lacking the dynamic energy that an entire cast usually feeds to one another--and which I've seen nearly all this cast participate with/create in the past--well, it suffers. Some. Not a lot. Barely enough to mention. Just enough to mention, in fact.</p><p>The play is still powerful. Still dramatic. Still intense and worth the price of a ticket, not least for us to think about nations who are not in the forefront of the news reports right now, but still suffer. </p><p>I am not "damning with faint praise" but rather "praising with faint damnation." Saying "not quite as good as City Garage usually fares" is a little like saying "not the tallest skyscraper in Manhattan." Because it remains an impactful work of living art, opening one's eyes and heart to the unknown, yet somehow recognizable as absolutely true. The characters and their fates (for so many of them are acted upon most of all) haunted me long after I left the theatre. Honestly, given the track record of this theatre company, had my soul not been so haunted I would be shocked.</p><p><span style="color: red;"><b><a href="https://citygarage.org/2023/10/18/insulted/" target="_blank"><i>Insulted, Belarus </i></a>plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 4pm until December 17, 2023 at the City Garage, Bergamot T1 Space, 2525 Michigan Ave Santa Monica, CA 90404.</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-42279434225596400562023-09-15T14:07:00.003-07:002023-09-23T07:51:55.177-07:00Ghost Land (review)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOKOaOUd3tgicaYl-bAiFgGimOW-UBMIStKMInsebxS57sXgynUtSH7s7T9iYwZulXeBwjkVPNo1S2vNarX7wq2_T6zXSUZZGZq7lribvsZZw7oCgucM9L2kSi50NHHv89P_2mq4drfTNrVXLRy0oYc6HXDIpA1C1Ua-FjKG3-tUO7Xpzey1NuuHuyUTX3/s1545/Ghost-Land-Square-Online-v3-2023-08-08.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1545" data-original-width="1545" height="401" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOKOaOUd3tgicaYl-bAiFgGimOW-UBMIStKMInsebxS57sXgynUtSH7s7T9iYwZulXeBwjkVPNo1S2vNarX7wq2_T6zXSUZZGZq7lribvsZZw7oCgucM9L2kSi50NHHv89P_2mq4drfTNrVXLRy0oYc6HXDIpA1C1Ua-FjKG3-tUO7Xpzey1NuuHuyUTX3/w401-h401/Ghost-Land-Square-Online-v3-2023-08-08.jpg" width="401" /></a></div><br /><b><i><span style="color: red;">Spoilers ahoy!</span></i></b><p></p><p>We all know a terrible war (well, most of them qualify) is taking place between Russia and Ukraine. <a href="https://citygarage.org/2023/07/21/ghostland/" target="_blank">CityGarage</a> commissioned a play about this horrible series of on-going events from Ukrainian writer <i>Andriy Bondarenko</i>.</p><p><b><i><u><span style="color: red;">Ghost Land</span></u></i></b>, directed by <i>Frederique Michel</i>, emerges as a series of vignettes which at first seem to have little in common. Yes they all deal with this particular war, and from the side of those whose nation has been invaded, but other than that...</p><p>But this is almost deceptive. Increasingly we see how all these emerge naturally from one another as naturally as the denizens of a forest. Eventually. When the final revelation comes, it hits like thunderclap. </p><p>No, I'm not going to tell you what it is.</p><p>Instead I will recall and paraphrase a quote from Joseph Campbell. "Dreams are the mythology of the individual. Just as mythology is the dreams of the society." I agree with this, noting it is even true of day dreams. Even more of nightmares.</p><p>The first vignette is "The Butterfly" and initially features Lura (<i>David E. Frank</i>) and a Doctor (<i>Andy Kallok</i>) discussing the former's trauma on the battlefield. Or at least this vignette's prologue does, before it switches to the battle, the trenches, the horrific flashbacks of sudden death and wild fantasies coupled with strangely fantastic messages, with fellow soldiers and his girl friend--a character that may or may not return later. Each of these ends with a twist worthy of the <i><u>Twilight Zone</u></i>. I will note the first one involves H.G.Wells' <u><i>The War of the Worlds</i></u>.</p><p>Lot of little references like that in here.</p><p>"The Dowry" involves Kallock as a father in small Ukrainian village who didn't get out before the snows or before the Russian troops arrived. He and his wife Maria (<i>Juliet Morrison</i>) look after their silent, pregnant, and ever-knitting daughter Halia (<i>Léa De Carmo</i>). Almost instantly I saw the red thread Halia was knitting, making something her parents cannot fathom, and wondered if she were somehow channeling the Fates of various mythologies. Especially amid discussions of wolf-like ghouls of legend in the nearby woods. When two soldiers (<i>Anthony Sannazzaro</i> and <i>Isaac Stackonis</i>) working for the Russian Army--even though one of them is a local Ukrainian--I got my answer. Yes.</p><p>"Crime and Punishment" ends the trilogy of vignettes, with Iulia (<i>Angela Beyer</i>) arriving in a room and matter of factly putting down her backpack then sitting down. Soon enough Gennadiy (<i>Gifford Irvine</i>) shows up with a small suitcase, radiating a sadistic glee. He is here to torture her, get her to confess to crime that she obviously did not commit, in fact never happened. But...something is off. She is strong, with a courage worthy of the greatest heroes. He revels in what is a fantastic portrayal of vicious evil. Yet something feels not quite right, somehow out of balance, something is not as it seems. When we learn the truth, it is a revelation and starts to put the entire play into a new, vibrant perspective.</p><p>This last vignette functions with an epilogue, again with the same Doctor as before, and here the full context of all we've experienced since the lights came up at the start becomes clear. I was shaken. Among other things, the play ceased to be about just what is happening in Ukraine or even about the hell of modern war. It became about me, and you, and everyone who has ever had to endure the trauma of real evil. Of those moments when the worst of us turn this earth into a real Hell.</p><p>More, how do we heal after that?</p><p><i><b>Be warned--this play is often grim, disturbing, and deeply depressing. As it must be.</b></i></p><p><b><span style="color: red;"><a href="https://citygarage.org/2023/07/21/ghostland/" target="_blank"><i><u>Ghost Land</u></i> </a>plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 4pm until October 15, 2023 at Bergamot, T1 Space, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90404</span></b></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-18064038134395323342023-09-12T20:20:00.004-07:002023-09-13T06:16:12.184-07:00Freud on Cocaine (review)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu3SsrQ4D7uYoofkYNel42uBghg_eqFdOoDiw2KtxBlUXnkx7g9aDlWwLno9o-n5zFqD-Jys4ATCc56Ql_JUDCR7F9ipwW5riS4v63lgWxibYnBeWR8io7tvdFIaRGNaq3FLn8ovyw39y6M3RXUvHNwWGuZCURG33p0S2foJjeUFmRdmtazycuQm4gtMgz/s1149/fREUD.COCAINE.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1149" data-original-width="843" height="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu3SsrQ4D7uYoofkYNel42uBghg_eqFdOoDiw2KtxBlUXnkx7g9aDlWwLno9o-n5zFqD-Jys4ATCc56Ql_JUDCR7F9ipwW5riS4v63lgWxibYnBeWR8io7tvdFIaRGNaq3FLn8ovyw39y6M3RXUvHNwWGuZCURG33p0S2foJjeUFmRdmtazycuQm4gtMgz/w374-h510/fREUD.COCAINE.jpg" width="374" /></a></div><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> Spoilers ahoy! </span></i></b><br /><p></p><p>I do love a double entendre. The play now playing at the Whitefire by <i>Howard Skora</i> has a good one. <b><i><u><a href="http://FreudOnCocaine.com" target="_blank">Freud on Cocaine</a></u></i></b> does indeed refer to the great scientist expounding about the benefits and (eventual) dangers of cocaine. But he also does so while "on" quite copious amounts of the stuff.</p><p>Sounds funny? Good, because it is!</p><p>The story, essentially told in flashback, focuses on a young Sigmund Freud (<i>Jonathan Slavin</i>) and two of the most important people in his life--his best friend Ernst (<i>Aaron LaPlante</i>), and his soon-to-be fiancee then wife Martha (<i>Sara Marafino</i>). These three form the beating heart and core of the whole story. Indeed they almost carry it, because their parts contain the drama as well as most of the multi-ranged humor.</p><p>Freud, brilliant but insecure and also desperate to make something of himself to he can marry the woman of his dreams, stumbles across some papers on the medical benefits of cocaine. Ernst, who has lost this thumb in an accident, is in such pain he's addicted to both morphine and heroine, spending much of his time drifting off. So, upon trying cocaine as a cure for his addiction, Ernst perks up, feeling full of energy again! Freud believes he's found an area of expertise that might have great possibilities. He feels that even stronger after trying some himself. He introduces Martha to it, and she certainly thinks THIS is FANTASTIC! </p><p>So Freud begins a journey into becoming "The Cocaine King of Austria." With what he openly calls "happy powder" he stands up to his dour, disapproving mother-in-law (<i>Sigute Miller</i>), almost overcomes the overwhelming memories of a father who thought nothing of him, forges a wildly successful career as a consultant to drug companies manufacturing cocaine--with the help of an almost over-the-top executive (<i>Barry Brisco</i>)--coming in time to try and cure a female patient (<i>Amy Smallman-Winston</i>) of deep depression with said happy powder.</p><p>With hindsight, it was bound to start crashing. In fact, it does in a harrowing manner. Ernst it turns out was not cured of his addiction. He dies, in front of Freud, who literally cannot bear the guilt. But Ernst also returns as his own ghost/shadow of Freud's guilt who comes and keeps having invisible conversations.</p><p>I wish my words could easily portray just how dizzyingly fun this play is, especially given what is after all some extremely serious subject matter. Yet after all do we not laugh in order not to cry? Or, sometimes, to let ourselves go enough to allow a real weeping bout when we need it? Anachronisms abound, often delightfully so. While we laugh often and loudly we also feel the pain of these people who keep trying to win, to make it right, to learn, to escape and yet accept responsibility. It makes for a deliriously dysfunctional mess, both comedy and tragedy in equal parts. </p><p>To be honest, though, there was a character who kept wandering in and out of the scenes in a top hat. She smiles, comments on the action, hints at who she is (Anna--Freud's last daughter, as yet unborn during this story), but to be brutally honest I could not figure out why she was there. She is the only character with no arc, who almost never interacts with anyone else, and offers little by way of insight. No offence to the actress (<i>Kim Hopkins</i>). I just never noticed what this character was doing in the play--which is in pretty much every other way delightful!</p><p><b style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><u>Freud on Cocaine</u></i></b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> plays Saturdays at 8 p.m until Nov. 4 2023 (</span><i style="color: #2b00fe;">dark Oct. 21</i><span style="color: #2b00fe;">) </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">and Sunday at 2 p.m. Sept 10 </span><u style="color: #2b00fe;">ONLY</u><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> at the Whitefire Theatre, 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423</span></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-69146196532518160022023-09-06T08:55:00.001-07:002023-09-06T08:55:48.250-07:00FANGS (review)<p><b><i><u><span style="color: #e06666;"> Spoilers ahoy!</span></u></i></b></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJFtFZKf-cYFqkCoEV2R7ea05xobR5lJehsDnaRF7uBmzDjwYRjGCoDtCO4s1RshU6ualXl_FHMBmYIGrxkqTV5PVKgRISqaHDodQkkeK5Gjv4p7y7KIT1XoJ_TczwyKnlbU-yPWEWZ8rIencK13J2fJ4-NeV9E9rzyGRHk0hTHA2U7xnsqBXEXJApR1RL/s653/TEXT+Horizontal.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="538" height="477" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJFtFZKf-cYFqkCoEV2R7ea05xobR5lJehsDnaRF7uBmzDjwYRjGCoDtCO4s1RshU6ualXl_FHMBmYIGrxkqTV5PVKgRISqaHDodQkkeK5Gjv4p7y7KIT1XoJ_TczwyKnlbU-yPWEWZ8rIencK13J2fJ4-NeV9E9rzyGRHk0hTHA2U7xnsqBXEXJApR1RL/w383-h477/TEXT+Horizontal.jpg" width="383" /></a>No one who knows me will feel surprise that I jumped at the chance to see a play about vampires.</p><p><b><i><u><span style="color: #ea9999;">Fangs</span></u></i></b> from the <a href="https://www.downtownrep.com">Downtown Repertory Theatre</a> makes for an almost startlingly good night of immersive theatre. "Good" mostly because it treats the subject matter seriously. "Immersive" because it really is that. Each attendee will experience a slightly different set of scenes as they are led to varying locations, watching the story unfold from individual perspectives.</p><p>The town is Strigoia, some time in the last century most likely, in some Eastern European country (<i>the name suggests Romania or nearby</i>). The first character we meet is Florin (<i>Sarah Lee Harter</i>) awakened in the middle of the night by a possibly prophetic dream. Her father Vasile (<i>Taylor Flowers</i>), one of the local fishermen, tries to soothe her but she remains terrified. Soon the town will vote on which girl will become the Harvest Queen, and Florin does not what to win. Why is not immediately clear, although we see most folks seem to regard this as a honor.</p><p>From Vasile's brother, Presbyter Calin (<i>Kevin Cook</i>) as well as the Alderman Andreu (<i>Christopher Karbo</i>) plus his wife Ruxana (<i>Erika Godwin</i>) we get some idea of how things work here. A century ago, the town was under attack by some kind of threat, some horror devouring people. Until the Baron Luca (<i>Aidan Collett</i>) saved them, and continues to protect them on the condition every year one Harvest Queen would be chosen "for" him. </p><p>Along the way, the town--they insist--is prospering, while Vasile knows people are getting poorer and poorer. Watching all this is Vadoma (<i>Georgan George</i>), a Traveler woman who cleans things and pretty much is tolerated so everyone can always have a target below them.</p><p>Finally, we find out Florin feels deeply for Narcissa (<i>Caroline Quigley</i>), the Alderman's daughter who used to be her friend but is now a bully, partially from the pressure from her family to be Harvest Queen. The third candidate, Viorica (<i>Danielle Fraser</i>) has a hard-working boyfriend Bogdan (<i>Markus Jorgensen</i>) with grand plans for a happy life. Watching over them is the teacher Alina (<i>Rachel Levy</i>) from outside the town, and a very mysterious young woman named Mjircalla (<i>Chanel Castañeda</i>) who secretly befriends Florin.</p><p>Yes, the Baron is a vampire. Obviously. Almost as obviously, so is Mjircalla. Everything is about to change.</p><p>Now that description of the setup hopefully might whet your appetite but what I really want to focus upon is the quality of the show overall. <i>Devon Armstrong</i> who directed and co-wrote (with <i>John Armstrong</i>) the piece chose a truly excellent cast, and fashioned a story with an exciting narrative which genuinely plumbed the characters' lives in a compelling vision. Here is love and tragedy, sorrow and terror, raw evil and real virtue all walking and talking on stage. Supernatural horror meets human terror, frailty, and heroism amidst more than one love story which very much touches the heart.</p><p><span style="color: #e06666;"><b>Starting September 29, <i><u><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fangs-tickets-692791416777" target="_blank">Fangs</a></u></i> will being a new series of performances at the Mountain View Mausoleum, </b></span><b style="color: #e06666;">2300 North Marengo Avenue Altadena, CA 91001 Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 7:50pm from September 29 through November 7, 2023.</b></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJFtFZKf-cYFqkCoEV2R7ea05xobR5lJehsDnaRF7uBmzDjwYRjGCoDtCO4s1RshU6ualXl_FHMBmYIGrxkqTV5PVKgRISqaHDodQkkeK5Gjv4p7y7KIT1XoJ_TczwyKnlbU-yPWEWZ8rIencK13J2fJ4-NeV9E9rzyGRHk0hTHA2U7xnsqBXEXJApR1RL/s653/TEXT+Horizontal.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></a></div><p></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-61641413754892114222023-08-14T13:29:00.004-07:002023-08-14T13:29:54.456-07:00Twelfth Night (burlesque) <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaoUav7r5GBgZcTkGtr5wVLeKif2WpO1XZeoXcZLq6CSFYDqtACA0Q-plHmNZ4WscYIN_d4fEkKDgxpbWqP0HYrs5GeI0J-Pu4q4RFV16c2P0DS1vPTMJjPrP7FRU9_98jIVNZD4E480aoQ6qHWBdku3S7Wx5wEe0jM2ofhoi_C_3nyt_j4IOXzLzklW3i/s540/12th.Night.3Clubs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="540" height="389" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaoUav7r5GBgZcTkGtr5wVLeKif2WpO1XZeoXcZLq6CSFYDqtACA0Q-plHmNZ4WscYIN_d4fEkKDgxpbWqP0HYrs5GeI0J-Pu4q4RFV16c2P0DS1vPTMJjPrP7FRU9_98jIVNZD4E480aoQ6qHWBdku3S7Wx5wEe0jM2ofhoi_C_3nyt_j4IOXzLzklW3i/w389-h389/12th.Night.3Clubs.jpg" width="389" /></a></div><b><i><span style="color: #ffa400;">Spoilers ahoy! </span></i></b><br /><p></p><p>I make no excuse for loving this particular play of Shakespeare's, easily my favorite of his comedies (and one I've seen dozens of times). I also have zero problem with anyone deciding to "play" with the play, so long as what we get in the end works.</p><p>Toil and Trouble Burlesque's version of <b><i><u><span style="color: #ffa400;">Twelfth Night</span></u></i></b> does indeed work. Sometimes I almost wept with laughter and a couple of times I nearly lost my breath.</p><p>Yes it is a burlesque. Every single opportunity it seems for having somebody do a strip was seized upon (male and female). More, since the venue is a bar they have a license that allows them to play/perform lots of popular music, which they do--weaving Kate Bush, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, and Sira among many others, often with startling poignancy in such an overtly farcical show.</p><p>Same plot is essentially there--Viola (<i>Kim Dalton</i>) washes ashore in Illyria, believing wrongly her twin brother Sebastian (<i>Alec Schiff</i>) drowned, which he himself believes about her after he's rescued by a sexy pirate (<i>Rehyan Rivera</i>). Somewhat rarely, these latter two are clearly portrayed as having a sexual fling going on. Viola pretends to be a boy named Caesario who joins the service of Duke Orsino (<i>Walt Gray IV</i>) and gets the unenviable job of wooing the local Countess Olivia (<i>Jessica Jones</i>) on his behalf. Olivia is mourning the loss of her brother (this is the first production ever I've seen that did something with this, how her story and Viola's have so much in common) (<i>Reagan Osborne</i>), but takes one look at Caesario and falls. Hard.</p><p>Olivia's household includes her dour Steward Malvolio (<i>Amir Levi</i>), her maid Maria (<i>Libby Letlow</i>), her drunken kinsman Sir Toby Belch (<i>Matt Pick</i>), as well as his silly friend Sir Andrew Aguecheek (<i>Daniel Krause</i>)--this last portrayed with zero pathos which is one of my few criticisms of this gloriously fun production.</p><p>Rounding out the cast are the Fool Feste (<i>Lily Anne Smith</i>), one of the best Fools in all Shakespeare which is saying a lot. Then there are a pair of maids in a series of fetchingly skimpy and sometimes kinky costumes (<i>Angie Hobin, Kayla Emerson</i>).</p><p>The plot is far more convoluted than I've hinted at here, but (as noted) explores quite a bit most productions don't. For example, Viola begins to feel tempted by the Countess! And Orsino is a tad confused in the end over who he finds more attractive--Viola or Sebastian! More, I must applaud a production that makes zero attempt in even the slightest way to make the twins look like each other at all! Not even their costumes have a single color in common! And. It. Did. Not. Matter!</p><p>Honestly, this might well be my favorite production of <b><i><u>Twelfth Night</u></i></b> I've ever seen. </p><p><span style="color: #ffa400;"><a href="https://allevents.in/org/toil-and-trouble-burlesque/12489910" target="_blank"><i><b>Twelfth Night</b></i> </a>plays Saturdays in August at 7pm (the show itself starts at 8pm), i.e. Aug 19 and 26, 2023 at the Three Clubs Bar 1123 Vine St, Los Angeles, CA 90038, Los Angeles , CA.</span></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-12729037114378812432023-08-12T09:57:00.002-07:002023-08-12T09:57:32.531-07:00Venus in Fur (review)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiflq1YVefLSGmIZ_kia5QHb74uiMRtWF-mivK5xYRs1KBbfDZK-XVm0Qxju7w4QiKa0AIfWAqkESwRbldgCRsLSXsFkH3C96HH2Etj1aSDiJ8rWA1_Hhw_jiGnWuPwSQNhlhJgGAGOCU_qpuTrysPhDd8q5TYEH5YmqzZRocORIlnrJuJ5e9Yquo859M5k/s817/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-30%20at%203.16.49%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="817" data-original-width="796" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiflq1YVefLSGmIZ_kia5QHb74uiMRtWF-mivK5xYRs1KBbfDZK-XVm0Qxju7w4QiKa0AIfWAqkESwRbldgCRsLSXsFkH3C96HH2Etj1aSDiJ8rWA1_Hhw_jiGnWuPwSQNhlhJgGAGOCU_qpuTrysPhDd8q5TYEH5YmqzZRocORIlnrJuJ5e9Yquo859M5k/w406-h417/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-30%20at%203.16.49%20PM.png" width="406" /></a></div><b><i><span style="color: red;"> Spoilers ahoy! </span></i></b><br /><p></p><p><b><i><u><span style="color: red;">Venus in Fur</span></u></i></b> is not quite based on the (in)famous novel with the same title. Not quite. It rather centers around a playwright/director named Thomas Novachek (director <i>Mark Blanchard</i> in the performance I saw) looking for the lead of his adaptation of the novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (from whom we get the word "masochism"). He's in a degree of despair after a long day of auditions when Vanda Jordan (<i>KATYUSHA</i>) walks in, insisting she has traveled far via bus, in the rain, faced a whole series of challenges to get here, quite late. He does not want to endure another audition. She insists. He refuses. She insists. He refuses again. She keeps insisting, and finally gets her way.</p><p>They act out the first scene of the play-within-a-play. And he is astounded. Every bit of who she had seemed evaporates in favor of this elegant, simmering, seductive woman from another age, one with a voice full of vague promises and eyes that pierce.</p><p>So far, so good. In fact, the set up is pretty much excellent. And more, I felt increasingly impressed with both actors' performances as well as the script by <i>David Ives</i>, which does not seek to simply retell the novel, but takes the premise to explore if not the novel at least how we often treat the subject matter. The cat-and-mouse (or sometimes cat-and-she wolf) game played between director and actress is at its best very compelling. She catches him out on a lot, not least the inherent sexism of the story (not, I think, the same as misogyny--it is more complex than that) and how others see it. He reveal along the way not-quite-the-full truth of why he has adapted this novel of all things. </p><p>Also along the way we find Vanda shows some frankly unbelievable knowledge, having somehow gotten hold of the script and memorized it, and also committed chunks of the novel to memory as well. She brought a bag of costumes, only some of which are for herself. The others are for Thomas, as he enacts first the novel's male central character, and eventually finds himself playing the female role after she switches from dominatrix to total submissive when "her" man finally gets up the courage to threaten to kill her.</p><p>It makes for quite a mind-blowing experience, bleeding into mythology as well as the depths of psychological truths. All of which is my jam in so many ways.</p><p>Let me make a few points, though. The ending has problems. It doesn't quite work once we arrive at the final three minutes or so. Part of that was a sound system that simply did not convey the words the voices recorded were saying! More, the very end of the play did not feel like an end, but a stop. The audience didn't even know whether to applaud or not.</p><p>Those are a bit subtle, and in terms of that last might well have been an aspect due to the early performance (this happens, often unpredictably in live theatre). More importantly, I don't want that criticism--which is real--about the end to take away from the journey, which was well-done and dove into some really interesting, kinky, and startlingly topical truths. </p><p>For the record, the show is ninety minutes long with no intermission. Such information was not in the program, unfortunately.</p><p><b><i><u><a href="https://www.onstage411.com/newsite/boxoffice/cart.asp" target="_blank">Venus in Fur</a></u></i></b> <span style="color: red;">plays through September 3, 2023, Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 3pm at the McCadden Place Theatre – 1157 N. McCadden Place, Los Angeles. CA. 90038</span></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-77082234110071844492023-07-24T08:13:00.002-07:002023-07-24T08:13:48.179-07:00The Turn of the Screw (review)<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Rt2Vr3TqPEMvGNUuLzU7mpuR0sydMBJiFumAf7oKUqbW3xx55t-_sN2PqYrRVoNdNs71ncFUyKBMnmbgpdJPT5szRL4QaO6e-gJPCNrKHH3SxlJlUeyFEbCu0ROZQiXuuxLXbzUVzBpmktwXDdu5fGi8j8uyVuiCZDBSsUBeI5KDqrDSr-D-tIWpnk8S/s4032/The%20Turn%20of%20the%20Screw%20-%20Governess%20and%20Miles_%20L-R%20Shayna%20Gabrielle,%20Michael%20Mullen_%20by%20Berrie%20Tsang%20copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Rt2Vr3TqPEMvGNUuLzU7mpuR0sydMBJiFumAf7oKUqbW3xx55t-_sN2PqYrRVoNdNs71ncFUyKBMnmbgpdJPT5szRL4QaO6e-gJPCNrKHH3SxlJlUeyFEbCu0ROZQiXuuxLXbzUVzBpmktwXDdu5fGi8j8uyVuiCZDBSsUBeI5KDqrDSr-D-tIWpnk8S/w675-h381/The%20Turn%20of%20the%20Screw%20-%20Governess%20and%20Miles_%20L-R%20Shayna%20Gabrielle,%20Michael%20Mullen_%20by%20Berrie%20Tsang%20copy.jpg" title="Photo credit: Kelly Frisch" width="675" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Photo credit: Kelly Frisch</span></td></tr></tbody></table><b><i><span style="color: red;">Spoilers ahoy!</span></i></b></p><p>Henry James' novella is arguably one of the absolute top tier ghost stories of all time (most would probably make it along with <i><u>The Haunting of Hill House</u></i> and <i><u>The Shining</u></i> as something of a haunting trilogy). </p><p>The <a href="https://sierramadreplayhouse.org/season-listing?season=2023" target="_blank">Sierra Madre Playhouse</a> now hosts a new adaptation, <b><i><u><span style="color: red;">The Turn of the Screw</span></u></i></b> by <i>Jeffrey Hatcher</i>. Like some other versions, this boils down a medium-sized cast of characters to a duel of actors -- <i>Shayna Gabrielle</i> as the unnamed governess who is by far the central character, and <i>Michael Mullen</i> as everyone else, including a wealthy but callow gentleman, a ghost, the housekeeper at a manor house, and a little boy named Miles. Essentially the plot centers around a sheltered young woman, a clergyman's daughter, seeking employment as a governess. The position she finds has been rejected by many others, not least because her employer--who has become the reluctant guardian of his young niece and nephew following their parents' deaths--wants to be left alone. He is not to be contacted ever or at all, no matter what the circumstances. </p><p>The fact she accepts this position, her first, actually hints at much. Herein lies the key to the story's great appeal. Hints abound, which even when explicit seem less than crystal. She learns her predecessor committed suicide following a wildly passionate affair with another servant which resulted in pregnancy. He killed himself soon after. But...the governess begins to see them. Even hear them. She becomes convinced the manor house is indeed haunted and the ghosts are targeting the two children.</p><p>Gabrielle and Mullen bring all this amazingly to life. The latter must readily and often play a wide variety of roles, each with a strong personality. Yet the former literally contains the meat of the ninety-minute play. We soon realize that whether the ghosts are real or not (and they may not be), the spanking new governess has some profound issues which now distort every moment of her life. Her imagination clearly reshapes reality more or less nonstop. By the end of her interview with the children's uncle, for example, in which he demands never to hear from her ever again, she is imagining herself as his wife. In her eyes the two children are perfect, must be perfect, so if they do anything im-perfect there must be literally demonic forces at work. Increasingly she sinks into a labyrinth of fierce, protective paranoia. </p><p>At last the results of course prove tragic. More, under the direction of <i>Jeramiah Peay</i> <b>these two actors weave a spell of imagination equal in power to this repressed governess' wildest fantasies. "Compelling" is almost the least way to describe the performance. Quite literally, I was on the edge of my seat and gripping the arms of my chair within twenty minutes! </b> Almost every word and gesture, every single silence and look did indeed turn the screw a little tighter. That we in the end don't know the final answer to almost anything makes up part of the horror. More, the cast by never for a moment letting up on living these moments, terror and hope and ambiguities intact, brought the story to life.</p><p><span style="color: red;"><b>As of this writing, <i><u><a href="https://ci.ovationtix.com/35040/production/1170162" target="_blank">The Turn of the Screw</a></u></i> has three remaining performances. Friday July 28 and Saturday July 28 at 8pm, with a 2pm matinee on Sunday July 30, 2023 at the Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 West Sierra Madre Blvd, Sierra Madre, CA 91024.</b></span></p><p><br /></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-44519618903341214342023-07-10T11:47:00.001-07:002023-07-10T11:47:48.711-07:00War of the Roses (review)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGavLiKhxw-kyR-qiGRgI6gszh4EeCToA8dGbwunkKAHpAKYtxMbvHcnlaixiKZXlg3uglWRY_H6NqDLj9kF5wx00HfhcigK7Okn0knTYtdne-TVcaamvoq7fOTxJbv_8GrV0hA2cG6IRmms2b5pOv1YsrQtq2F1FNC_xr-HvcJrJqF5mTX6cRU5ENWiLy/s525/War-of-the-Roses_Key-Art_V-vsm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="350" height="467" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGavLiKhxw-kyR-qiGRgI6gszh4EeCToA8dGbwunkKAHpAKYtxMbvHcnlaixiKZXlg3uglWRY_H6NqDLj9kF5wx00HfhcigK7Okn0knTYtdne-TVcaamvoq7fOTxJbv_8GrV0hA2cG6IRmms2b5pOv1YsrQtq2F1FNC_xr-HvcJrJqF5mTX6cRU5ENWiLy/w311-h467/War-of-the-Roses_Key-Art_V-vsm.jpg" width="311" /></a></div><b><i><span style="color: #f6b26b;"> Spoilers ahoy </span></i></b><br /><p></p><p>The idea behind <b><i><a href="https://theatricum.com/queen-margarets-version-of-shakespeares-war-of-the-roses-2/" target="_blank">Queen Margaret's Version of Shakespeare's War of the Roses</a></i></b> (which is major mouthful) seems to me an extremely clever and admirable one. Take a major female character who exists in three or four of the history plays and edit the scenes together to create a play about a queen, rather than a king! Very good idea! In fact, I know it has been done before with precisely the same character--Henry VI's queen <a href="http://zahirblue.blogspot.com/2016/03/shakespeares-rose-queen-review.html" target="_blank"><i>Margaret of Anjou</i></a>. </p><p>This version does not work. I want to note right off the bat this is not in any way a problem with the cast, many of whom do very fine jobs. No, I have put it down to three specific errors.</p><p>First, the script is unfocused in a big way. It seems to entirely seek to put as much of the plot of all four plays as feasible on stage--a nice lesson in why such total devotion to plot is often a bad idea. In theory this is Margaret's story, but most of the action takes place without her presence or even mention, especially in Act Two. Because the script tries to tell the story of the Wars (<i>notice the plural? And as a matter of historical trivia, no one at the time or in Shakespeare's lifetime ever called them that</i>) in total, rather than tell Margaret's story amid that conflict. We don't get to know Margaret very well at all, or indeed anyone. Character and drama was sacrificed in favor of plot. </p><p>Second, the direction leaned into this problem. There was hardly a single pause in close to two and a half hours of theatre. Everything was not only at breakneck speed to get every single plot point (whether it mattered or not) on stage, without a seeming moment to react with any kind of depth, but they have clearly been directed to portray only two emotions for over nine out of every ten minutes. Mostly, anger, the cheapest and least nuanced emotion one usually sees on stage. The other is wailing grief, all like the anger we see, pretty much one note. </p><p>This was boring. And grating. I liked very nearly no one on stage, with the possible exceptions of Henry VI (<i>Emoria Weidner</i>) and Duke Humphrey (<i>Franc Ross</i>). I almost liked Lady Anne (<i>Claire Simba</i>). There was a lot of talent on that stage but it seemed like it was written and directed to only give those three moments of sympathy.</p><p>Never once did I feel for the central character, Margaret of Anjou. Not once. That is a problem. I did not even hate her. </p><p>Finally, this show desperately needed some good fight choreography. One half of one fight (out of at least ten) seemed interesting at all, namely the last one in which people froze and moved in slow motion in between some great lines by Richard III (note--NOT Margaret). The rest of it looked awkward at best.</p><p>I hate writing a review like this. </p><p><a href="https://theatricum.com/queen-margarets-version-of-shakespeares-war-of-the-roses-2/" target="_blank"><b><i>War of the Roses</i></b></a> <span style="color: #f6b26b;"><b>plays Sunday, July 16 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, July 23 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, July 30 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 12 at 7:30 p.m.*, Friday, Aug. 18 at 7:30 p.m.**, Sunday, Aug. 27 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 3 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 9 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 17 at 3:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 24 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga CA 90290</b></span></p><p><span style="color: #272751;"><i>*Prologue (pre-show discussion):Saturday, Aug. 12 from 6:30 p.m.–7 p.m.</i></span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #272751;"><i>**Pay-What-You-Will performance on Friday, Aug. 18 at 7:30 p.m. (cash only at the door)</i></span></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-48159370417729348992023-07-10T11:04:00.005-07:002023-07-10T11:04:43.898-07:00Garden of Alla (review)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVC4o9EGM8pRUNBMEcuoqrg37ZEmmz4VyS-JVuB8Qch-c3PXfr4ACuzGYpxjMn0jzHIlOVZciFJCFPhEh5_0qMW05Xq_OVU4kxD9N8jHrcgwUInyFWul7InVADw7iQu1OmPh_T8wAYbCWW-yAlhMDEFzX2O9FOo2TjqTXKkFu-uF1krCwfBgZ2i5ZX8cDT/s525/Garden-of-Alla_Key-Art-V-vsm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="350" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVC4o9EGM8pRUNBMEcuoqrg37ZEmmz4VyS-JVuB8Qch-c3PXfr4ACuzGYpxjMn0jzHIlOVZciFJCFPhEh5_0qMW05Xq_OVU4kxD9N8jHrcgwUInyFWul7InVADw7iQu1OmPh_T8wAYbCWW-yAlhMDEFzX2O9FOo2TjqTXKkFu-uF1krCwfBgZ2i5ZX8cDT/w298-h448/Garden-of-Alla_Key-Art-V-vsm.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><b><i><span style="color: #fff2cc;">Spoilers ahoy! </span></i></b><br /><p></p><p>Quick question--have you ever heard of Alla Nazimova? If the answer is "no" frankly you've missed out on a fascinating historical figure. A genuinely great actress of the stage and screen, a pioneer in Hollywood where she was not only a movie star, but a director and screenwriter. Her home was an elegant mansion on Sunset, with the appropriate name "Garden of Alla."</p><p>Add to that an LGBTQ icon. Openly bisexual, with evidently a preference for women, talk of such generated massive scandals (eventually).</p><p><i>Romy Nordlinger</i> stars in a her own one woman show, appropriately titled <i><b><a href="https://theatrewest.org/on-stage/2023/garden-of-alla-the-alla-nazimova-story" target="_blank">Garden of Alla</a></b></i>, which to be sure should be welcomed by everyone who's heard tell of the lady in question (which, now, includes you).</p><p>So, how is it?</p><p>Fun. Entertaining. Educational. Clearly a passion project by someone who has done loads of homework! The premise here is of Nazimova speaking to us from "beyond the veil." Thus she sees her entire life and comments upon it. Here we get into a series of tiny nuances that keep this one woman show from being as good as it could be. Which should not distract from the very many fine things it (and she) achieve. It seeks to cover an entire life in about 90 minutes, which would be not enough time had she died young. She did not. As a result some things never quite fit together the way they perhaps should. For example, Nazimova had a long term partner for the last decades of her life. We hear this woman's name once, very early on, and she never comes up again. Nazimova married, and her husband pretty much betrayed her. Yet why did she marry him? No real clue, not from this show. There was a long section where she recounted, in a very journalistic winking fashion, the many illicit/fun goings on at and within her estate. But what was she doing? Who did she love, even as a friend? I don't really know, not least because she--Nazimova--is the only character (other than her parents) who get any kind of development. </p><p>So the effect is one of a genuinely interesting, even fascinating history described. Not experienced. A woman who must have been nothing less than amazing, but who never seems to stop boasting--and we hardly ever see any of her achievements. It all reaches a conclusion, a piece of wisdom that sounds rights and should inspire a lot more emotion than it does. I nodded, agreed with her words, thought this made all kinds of sense--but I didn't feel emotionally involved any time in the last half of the show. Just interested. </p><p>Which means I liked it. But I wanted to love it. Not because of the acting nor the directing (kudos to <i>Lorca Peress</i> btw). Rather, the script eventually doesn't allow Nazimova to be vulnerable, to metaphorically bleed, to drop her veil. It simply is a very entertaining trip through some of the highlights of a wildly interesting and talented life, full of passion and pain, triumph and collapse. But we only wade in a little, not dive into it all and swim with her.</p><p><b><i><a href="https://theatrewest.org/on-stage/2023/garden-of-alla-the-alla-nazimova-story" target="_blank">Garden of Alla</a></i></b> <b><span style="color: #fce5cd;">(which, again, I enjoyed) plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm until July 23, 2023 at Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Los Angeles CA 90068.</span></b></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-50863234692165772722023-06-19T10:54:00.003-07:002023-06-19T10:54:44.029-07:00Sherlock Holmes The Last Act<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH9L4Gt96L_XOE5hKy7fXcxbwdMVTnlVVM5JAR7nYJl7qyB6SJyfGB4Asj5oqS9F3XHlLNnxt-S6QaIc1j1UEiIapKgCs5BGqdX88wYvUX2JyCU6EuEVI1lS-fUC2C3OzRt_0bv1Fv3lJZfRzAXP2OLWk6CKIPEgHNPoVtsXpNUQy9Ydn55tYy93bWsH2R/s800/SherlockHOlmesTheLastAct.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH9L4Gt96L_XOE5hKy7fXcxbwdMVTnlVVM5JAR7nYJl7qyB6SJyfGB4Asj5oqS9F3XHlLNnxt-S6QaIc1j1UEiIapKgCs5BGqdX88wYvUX2JyCU6EuEVI1lS-fUC2C3OzRt_0bv1Fv3lJZfRzAXP2OLWk6CKIPEgHNPoVtsXpNUQy9Ydn55tYy93bWsH2R/w309-h412/SherlockHOlmesTheLastAct.jpg" width="309" /></a></div> <b><i><span style="color: #ffa400;">Spoilers ahoy!</span></i></b><p></p><p>Having been a Sherlockian since around 1970, and having written my own Holmes murder mystery (watch this space for details), I eagerly planned to see <b><i><a href="https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/9759" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes the Last Act</a></i></b>. Wasn't quite sure what to expect.</p><p>In truth this proved a solo show in which an aging Holmes has just returned from the funeral of Dr. John Watson, his one true friend. Holmes (<i>Nigel Miles-Thomas</i>) at this point seems very much the powerful mind and piercing figure he has always been. But not so, not really. He finds himself diving, or perhaps falling into memories of his days as the Great Consulting Detective. Again and again he recreates the moment he met Watson. ("I perceive you have been to Afghanistan") Eventually his memories take him further and deeper. Into un-charted territory, or at least un-chronicled. Things Watson never knew...</p><p>Writer <i>David Stuart Davies</i> does a very fine job of weaving the Holmes we know with what we don't know, but might have been. Much of what he comes up with accounts for several patterns in the Great Detective's life, not least perhaps his need for stimulation, his distrust of women coupled with his strong desire to protect them, his craving for what he called "excitement" but comes across (in this work, anyway) as distraction, his willingness to let certain criminals simply go free. </p><p>More, and this is praise for both actor and writer as well as director <i>Gareth Armstrong</i>, all this emerges in a way I don't think anyone needs much familiarity with the books and stories to appreciate the story. Lacking the time that folks like Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeremy Brett, Basil Rathbone (to name a very, very few) had to work with the character, Miles-Thomas admirably bring Holmes to life. More, I get nice glimpses of the other people in his life, including Watson (of course) and his father.</p><p>I do think the pacing feels a bit rushed, but then the Fringe only gave this show a 60 minute slot (in practice this means more like 55 minutes or less). I feel it probably needs 65, maybe 70 full minutes to let everything sink in. </p><p><a href="https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/9759" target="_blank"><b><i>Sherlock Homes The Last Act</i></b></a><span style="color: #ffa400;"> plays at the Broadwater Second Stage, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90038 three more shows as of this writing:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #ffa400;">Wednesday June 21 2023, 8:00 PM</span></li><li><span style="color: #ffa400;">Friday June 23 2023, 9:00 PM </span></li><li><span style="color: #ffa400;">Saturday June 24 2023, 7:00 PM</span></li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-7017609728561063302023-06-19T10:33:00.000-07:002023-06-19T10:33:19.756-07:00Vampire Nightclub 1983 (Fringe 2023)<p><b><i></i></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ8PLkwUCAfAIwbhXUNvUfsG6Q8G8qUdXejapZH4-Xn-XOX7WI-W8ppRJ_jl7P8wov0VhAHWlLYyEafeWHgQ4HWwpWKXI22cxl6SBU3ojealJD8HHjClxNbkQZADRSjHc7Ibhl3tZMLtV05pg17VCetQZHgf3my8qR7EmUYcVjoD2t0WE2mmYKchvE2v9t/s800/VampireNightClub1983.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="719" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ8PLkwUCAfAIwbhXUNvUfsG6Q8G8qUdXejapZH4-Xn-XOX7WI-W8ppRJ_jl7P8wov0VhAHWlLYyEafeWHgQ4HWwpWKXI22cxl6SBU3ojealJD8HHjClxNbkQZADRSjHc7Ibhl3tZMLtV05pg17VCetQZHgf3my8qR7EmUYcVjoD2t0WE2mmYKchvE2v9t/w390-h434/VampireNightClub1983.png" width="390" /></a></i></b></div><b><i><span style="color: red;">Spoilers ahoy </span></i></b><p></p><p>Seems like every single Fringe has at least one vampire play. I never get to see all of them alas! But this year I did get to see <b><i><a href="https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/9979" target="_blank">Vampire Nightclub 1983</a></i></b>, a solo piece using the undead as a powerful metaphor.</p><p><i>Audrey Valcourt</i> wrote and performed this relatively short (under 30 minute) piece, explaining from the year 1983 how she came to be a vampire in New York City. It makes for some interesting lore and brings the metaphor front and center. She was not made, but born a vampire. Although she felt so very out of sync with her life, she had no idea of the sheer scale of it, until a little after puberty when she began to change. Or, become her true self. Her best friend didn't believe her, until seeing the fangs she ran away.</p><p>Our narrator spirals after that, running away, certain she is destined to be alone forever. After many unsuccessful attempts at suicide (including driving a stake into her own heart) she ends up doing nothing, just existing.</p><p>Until...she meets others of her kind. She falls in love. She makes friends. Every night she dances and listens to music, mingling with vampires and humans, finding many among the latter perfectly willing to be donors for one reason or another.</p><p>She is happy, until one of her friends gets sick. Which rocks her to the core. Vampires don't get sick. What is this?</p><p>AIDS. That is what 'this' is, and the devastation, the terror, the melancholy clutching at love even as one's lover fades--yeah the metaphor (or if you prefer analogy) seems pretty clear, especially during Pride Month.</p><p>Honestly, this solo piece works well overall, and I ended up caring about the character and her friends. I do wish she had greater skill at moving and talking like different characters. In fact, I find myself wanting to see the piece expanded into a full length work, with a larger cast and frankly even larger scale. </p><p><b><span style="color: red;">The last show (for now) of <u><i>Vampire Nightclub 1983</i></u> will be at the Broadwater Studio, 1078 Lillian Way, Los Angeles, CA 90038 on Saturday June 24 2023, 6:00 PM.</span></b></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-22774051421018143052023-06-19T10:09:00.005-07:002023-06-19T10:09:58.791-07:00Get Naughty! The Krampus Rock Musical (Fringe 2023)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw6EZqJqAKOrF5qLiG2DpNEldpZfJy8GbwvwzZpxVdtaXKKQPoCHjJ5yZx5oad7BadB0jpTlygyZ_QCCvF_b5BVuyZ-sILZFCtx0zwVPdyJKpmgtanF3RD7E6pv5VNQ4tJnx_5r-2vQ0WsmvfkvLYDy1p0J89_XCRweLO17hCYTr4yZwIQ70Z_VX0VeJhN/s800/Krampus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="433" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw6EZqJqAKOrF5qLiG2DpNEldpZfJy8GbwvwzZpxVdtaXKKQPoCHjJ5yZx5oad7BadB0jpTlygyZ_QCCvF_b5BVuyZ-sILZFCtx0zwVPdyJKpmgtanF3RD7E6pv5VNQ4tJnx_5r-2vQ0WsmvfkvLYDy1p0J89_XCRweLO17hCYTr4yZwIQ70Z_VX0VeJhN/w288-h433/Krampus.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><b><i><span style="color: #04ff00;"> Spoilers ahoy!</span></i></b><br /><p></p><p>Imagine if you will, a burlesque show that combines <i><u>Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer</u></i> with <i><u>The Rocky Horror Picture Show</u></i>.</p><p>That will probably prepare you for <a href="https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/9883" target="_blank"><b><i>Get Naughty! The Krampus Rock Musical</i></b></a>. For those of you who don't know, Krampus is a Germanic kind of Anti-Santa Claus who puts coal in bad little children's stockings, and if they are really bad, steals them away in his sack to EAT THEM!</p><p>As our hostess (<i>Aryiel Hartman</i>) explains, Krampus (<i>Jon Cody</i>) lives at the South Pole with a group of servants/slaves called Switches (including <i>Dana Benedict</i> and <i>Max Moxie</i>) who--in between orgies--help him torture bad children in their dreams then help him in his Christmas Eve duties. </p><p>However, when a Krampus has a child, that child will take up the mantle upon his fortieth birthday. Hence, the story. Unbeknownst (at first) to Krampus himself, a wild week with the Witch Fantasma (<i>Miss Spent Youth</i>) years ago created a hellspawn raised by his mother, who calls him Junior (<i>Matt Pick</i>). As a magic mirror reveals the truth, honestly Krampus looks forward to retiring and putting together his band! But he has to prepare Junior to become the new Krampus, with the help of his head Switch (i.e. slave) Sinchilla (<i>Sarah O'Dwyer</i>). Honestly, Junior doesn't seem to quite get it, at least at first. </p><p>Meanwhile there's a B plot about a pair of children, Camden (<i>Kim Dalton</i>) and Joan (<i>Mary Louise Lukasiewicz</i>) who begin to realize Krampus might be real and that they are his natural prey. So they begin to make plans...which do not involve being any less naughty. Oh, no!</p><p>As I hope this precis makes clear, we have hear a very fun show, one that takes any little mishaps in stride with a (sometimes literal) wink to the audience. Honestly, it is a little slow getting started. But I grew more and more invested in the whole game of watching this play out, until by halfway through I was almost dancing to the music (composed by <i>Cliff Retallick</i>, who also wrote the delightful madness that is this book). Kudos also to choreographers <i>Alli Miller</i> and <i>Lauren Avon</i>.</p><p><b><i><a href="https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/9883" target="_blank">Get Naughty! The Kampus Rock Musical</a></i></b> <b><span style="color: #04ff00;">plays at the Three Clubs, 1123 N VINE ST, Hollywood, CA 90038 with one more show as of this writing: Thursday June 22 2023, 7:00 PM</span></b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-18758613697403099572023-06-19T09:32:00.003-07:002023-06-19T09:41:41.772-07:00Things to Avoid in a Eulogy (Fringe 2023)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDH3iNSrKnyRlBsc9hj-lh1gA4we4k7c2iCc-N3j2XPAhmJfkKvXLa88_fFoqJDcP3gjd-A_wQhr7plltEQg4lLm64KxKRWdYEV16JXdE3cbn6BKUAT00SXregoSxEUfTy89dpAv0yERieoGOh6b_VhwvbVziFwZ8lRnIX17u9EwHWUcptT8NDScW4x-OE/s800/Eulogy.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="518" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDH3iNSrKnyRlBsc9hj-lh1gA4we4k7c2iCc-N3j2XPAhmJfkKvXLa88_fFoqJDcP3gjd-A_wQhr7plltEQg4lLm64KxKRWdYEV16JXdE3cbn6BKUAT00SXregoSxEUfTy89dpAv0yERieoGOh6b_VhwvbVziFwZ8lRnIX17u9EwHWUcptT8NDScW4x-OE/w312-h482/Eulogy.png" width="312" /></a></div> <b><i><span style="color: #a64d79;">Spoilers ahoy!</span></i></b><p></p><p>Go see this play. That is my simplest, most heart-felt reaction and review. I mean it.</p><p><i><b><a href="https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/9791" target="_blank">Things to Avoid in a Eulogy</a></b></i> by <i>Donnie Jarman</i> (a friend of mine, btw) hit me in the gut and the heart. It is a profound piece, not in terms of ideas or action, but for the emotional depths it reaches and explores, with compassion and humor.</p><p>Jill (<i>Lindsay Seim</i>) answers an ad at Craigs List that sounds too good to be true--free room, good pay, just to take care of/keep someone company. Sandra (<i>Jennifer Ashe</i>), it turns out, is dying of cancer. She doesn't want to die alone, and knows she'll need some help soon. She will pay very, very well. And she hires Jill.</p><p>What follows is an emotional odyssey between two women of different generations and worlds--what they have in common, what they disagree about, how they have reacted to the world, what each wants, how they (eventually) feel about one another. It proves extremely moving, as well as gently (sometimes savagely) funny as hell. Among other things, and honestly everything else is ultimately very charming minutia, it is a portrait of growing courage--physical, emotional, intellectual. </p><p>And, it is about love. I sometimes think far too many plays (and novels, movies, etc.) confuse love with desire, or treat it as a beautiful weakness. Which is fair, but there's more to it than either of those. More, this play demonstrates a functional love story can be exactly as compelling as the most dysfunctional kind. </p><p>Kudos also to the director <i>Thomas Bigley</i>, not only for fostering this story as it is told by two wonderful actors, but also helping keep the momentum going between scenes (a sometimes daunting task, but helped enormously by how much we care about these people).</p><p><span style="color: #c27ba0;"><a href="https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/9791" target="_blank"><i>Things to Avoid in a Eulogy</i></a> <span style="font-family: inherit;">has the following performances available at the Broadwater Black Box, 6322 Santa Monica Blvd. , Los Angeles, CA 90038.</span></span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #c27ba0;"><span style="background-color: white;">Friday June 23 2023, 10:00 PM</span></span></li></ul><p></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-41513947995180974612023-06-19T09:04:00.002-07:002023-06-19T09:04:21.073-07:00Inappropriate! (Fringe 2023)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEBTw1YoOnKEkbL008ijyoK6nR-s_D3dbXtXcj7Wbslavpb6I0-I_di2rOZSmASwzzR-qtFt-nUsBilZG9iAvq0IvPISLNN-l6g1N-yrW0WYDvPGfC8DpBGKgefWn-keh70GkFRYFdTwh1g3OufgHX4B-FbjIhQLOS-2kXPtwO9eSAUimg3gzySAGeeEpZ/s800/Inappropriate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="539" height="463" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEBTw1YoOnKEkbL008ijyoK6nR-s_D3dbXtXcj7Wbslavpb6I0-I_di2rOZSmASwzzR-qtFt-nUsBilZG9iAvq0IvPISLNN-l6g1N-yrW0WYDvPGfC8DpBGKgefWn-keh70GkFRYFdTwh1g3OufgHX4B-FbjIhQLOS-2kXPtwO9eSAUimg3gzySAGeeEpZ/w312-h463/Inappropriate.jpg" width="312" /></a></div> <br /><b><i><span style="color: red;">Spoilers ahoy!</span></i></b><p></p><p>Honestly, I have an issue with ten minute plays. They nearly always end up being clever little comedy sketches rather than...well, plays. Which is not a bad thing, but a good comedy sketch is tricky to pull over very well.</p><p>On the other hand, it can still be funny or at least enjoyable even without being perfect. Mostly such often need a cast who've been working together at sketch comedy for some time and preferably have worked together.</p><p>With that mini-rant out of the way, <b><i><u><a href="https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/9747" target="_blank">Inappropriate!</a></u></i></b> consists of seven such sketches along a theme superbly described by the title. Fair is fair--some of the playwrights are friends of mine. Ditto some of the actors. </p><p><i><u>Curb Your Urges</u></i> by <i>Rom Watson</i> uses a large cast to showcase an imaginary game show about how people give in to temptation even when offered truckloads of money just to refrain. Performed by <i>Michael Caldwell, Alexis C. Martine, Jessica Dawdeswell, Jerry Weil, AnnaLisa Erickson, Ewan Chung, Beth Nintzel, David St. James, Debra Kay Lee, Dee Freeman</i>, and <i>Alex DeRita</i>. A veritable cast of thousands for a ten minute! Fairly one note until the last contestant, but done will skill and energy. I smiled and laughed.</p><p><i><u>The Sub</u></i> written and performed by <i>Maura Swanson</i> is a cutting piece of fierce satire/mockery aimed at the Maga crowd, essentially.</p><p><u><i>First Date</i></u> by Beth Polsky is a funny little skit about flatulance. Charming and funny in a slightly gross way, the waiter at one point almost steals it. But it also ends on a weird little hopeful note, with <i>Jerry Weil, Alexis C. Martina</i> (<i>Jessica Dawdeswell </i>on June 11 & 17) and <i>Michael Caldwell</i>.</p><p><i><u>The Last Reading</u></i> by <i>Laura Huntt Foti</i> is borderline shocking, which made it work very well indeed, save for the blend of camp which struck a very slightly wrong chord to my ear. A playwrighting group in the throws of disintegrating tries to keep in together when one member supplies pages of a wildly inappropriate piece. As in borderline criminal (as well as racist). Performed by <i>Debra Kay Lee, David St. James, Ewan Chung, Beth Nintzel</i> and <i>AnnaLisa Erickson</i>. </p><p><i><u>The Pharmacy</u></i> by <i>Laura Huntt Foti</i> is built around a simple premise, a pharmacist with a judgemental attitude and no respect for anyone's privacy. It was entertaining but was also simply the same joke told several times. Performed by <i>Dee Freeman, Rachael Sizgorich, Alex DeRita</i>, and <i>Michael Caldwell</i>.</p><p><u><i>Bible Study</i></u>, again written and performed by <i>Maura Swanson</i>, is a more nuanced critique of a different facet of conservative America. Scathing.</p><p><i><u>Howard's End</u></i> by not E.M.Forster (that is what the program says) is about a eulogy service held by a man's brother, sister, and reluctantly attending nephew (who eventually enjoys the event very much) in which we learn the deceased was a letcherous no-talent jerk and pervert, whose "friends" use the event to push their own acting careers--save for one who takes the opportunity to share some genuine memories and play the accordian. That was my favorite part. Performed by <i>Jerry Weil, Debra Kay Lee, Rachael Sizgorich, Michael Caldwell, Rachel Winfree, David St. James,</i> and <i>Alex DeRita</i>.</p><p><b><span style="color: red;">As of this writing, there are two performances left at the Three Clubs, 1123 N VINE ST, Hollywood, CA 90038:</span></b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b><span style="color: red;">Wednesday June 21 2023, 7:00 PM</span></b></li><li><b><span style="color: red;">Friday June 23 2023, 9:00 PM</span></b></li></ul><p></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-24407026056344511392023-06-09T06:46:00.001-07:002023-06-09T06:46:32.729-07:00Measure4Measure (review)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNrcvLEPpDWHwOf5__eofhKrD7G4gN9xYtKIXKeeEauLKmu9mB2-40wXrkVr0e45JFSgwC_snQ2Q1YuhuAhwdISkJrdPkVjO-cm5CCUeuCVEz5ZO2g0DUvHPrgE5Spg9L5REpVUPyAQiaLmbavVFxxKTzYJtIIHwLv_MOUXKtXVO3NQdEorIGVfGx6tA/s1280/Measure%20for%20Measure%20Postcard%20FRONT%202023-05-06.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="915" height="447" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNrcvLEPpDWHwOf5__eofhKrD7G4gN9xYtKIXKeeEauLKmu9mB2-40wXrkVr0e45JFSgwC_snQ2Q1YuhuAhwdISkJrdPkVjO-cm5CCUeuCVEz5ZO2g0DUvHPrgE5Spg9L5REpVUPyAQiaLmbavVFxxKTzYJtIIHwLv_MOUXKtXVO3NQdEorIGVfGx6tA/w315-h447/Measure%20for%20Measure%20Postcard%20FRONT%202023-05-06.jpeg" width="315" /></a></div><b><i><span style="color: red;"> Spoilers ahoy!</span></i></b><p></p><p>I have seen William Shakespeare's <i><u>Measure for Measure</u></i> at least five times, including the production in which I played a tiny role lo these many year past. </p><p>City Garage's <b><i><u><span style="color: red;">Measure4Measure</span></u></i></b> is not quite that play, although the vast majority of it consists of Shakespeare's writings. Still, I'm stating outright this is the best production of this "problem play" I have ever seen.</p><p>Love getting to write those words.</p><p>To start, five of the many, many characters in this rather sprawling "comedy" (<i>back in the day, this word was applied loosely to any play that did not end in massive deaths and devastation, i.e. tragedies</i>) have specific actors assigned to them. Everyone else is played by two other actors, which not only provides a chance for <i>Kat Johnson</i> and <i>Angela Beyer</i> to really show off their skills, it adds to some laughs to some rather more serious moments and (more importantly) gives these two--as well as Lucio, played/danced brilliantly by <i>Courtney Brechemin (they nearly steal the show, for reals)</i> to sometimes comment on events.</p><p>Because, as we hear up front, this is a "problem play." Which means what? Essentially, a play by Shakespeare that seems a bit weird, like <i><u>Cymbeline</u></i> with a plot so complicated even the title character at one point says "Wait, stop, I'm confused." Or the deeply dark, cynical love story that crashes, falls over, and burns then starts a minor plague in <i><u>Troilus and Cressida</u></i>. This one has a plot that, frankly, seems more disturbing every single moment one thinks about it. That three of the performers actually do takes or feel outraged over the supposed hero's actions--i.e. the Duke played with a perfect blend of ruthless myopia by <i>Troy Dunn--</i>really brings this out. It doesn't take much time out of the main action, just a commentary not unlike (albeit far more pointed) contemporary jokes included in other productions. </p><p>In fact, it is hard in context not to see Shakespeare as exploring some really nasty parts of his own world, as well as ours, sometimes and especially in this play. In my opinion.</p><p>The Duke of Verona decides to go abroad for a bit, leaving his lieutenants, the elderly but kind Escalus (<i>Andy Kallok</i>) and the supremely strict Angelo (<i>Nathan Dana Aldrich</i> or <i>Anthony Sannazzaro</i> depending on the performance) in charge. He explicitly does this because for the past nineteen years he's been lax on a lot of very strict laws on the books. As a result, vice is awash. He pretty clearly intends Angelo especially to crack the whip, then when the Duke returns he will reform matters--thus letting the city blame Angelo for the change, and praise the Duke for making things right.</p><p>Richard III had lessons to learn from this guy, who promptly sneaks back into the city in disguise to see how things are going.</p><p>Apart from the brothels being closed down and burned, the employees therein punished, etc. there's also the case of a young man named Claudio who has gotten his fiancee Juliet pregnant. Now, one of the few details we know about Shakespeare's life is that this is precisely how he came to marry his own wife. Just sayin' Lucio, our wonderful narrator, goes to see if Claudio's sister Isabel (<i>Naomi Helen Weissberg</i>)--in a subtle pun about to become a sister in a convent--might try and intervene on her brothers' behalf. She is totally willing, and pleads for mercy as well as Portia ever did. But...what she does, by her obvious piety and virtue, is inflame Angelo's seemingly-feeble lust, which roars into life a la Frollo in <i><u>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</u></i>. He eventually, and with difficulty since she seemingly does not and/or refuses to understand his meaning, demands a quid pro quo of her body for Claudio's life.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkfZAH_fvmtWXxPAjmiCujjdwJ4ZABxsPaygfbPDZvjzhowKpL2IAZr5mIJ9u0dhno35UizCJlAEtdZNl1ytIiDWtxZNchduHL6bYgVIVOUuAaLW5YHpCD-6y54L5i7PEe9pF2HkZsPO4FRJmxjIWCl50D7C3mKXqybJZfokdc_HE9afnu3Z-_8PTi-Q/s1530/Opera%20Snapshot_2023-06-09_064307_citygarage.org.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="978" data-original-width="1530" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkfZAH_fvmtWXxPAjmiCujjdwJ4ZABxsPaygfbPDZvjzhowKpL2IAZr5mIJ9u0dhno35UizCJlAEtdZNl1ytIiDWtxZNchduHL6bYgVIVOUuAaLW5YHpCD-6y54L5i7PEe9pF2HkZsPO4FRJmxjIWCl50D7C3mKXqybJZfokdc_HE9afnu3Z-_8PTi-Q/s320/Opera%20Snapshot_2023-06-09_064307_citygarage.org.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />When the Duke finds out about this, he comes up with a very weird and convoluted plot to rescue Claudio and yet spare Isabel--a solution which is all kinds of problematical, as our cast very vocally notes with their reaction! In fact, apart from a love of scheming, the Duke seems to believe Isabel but also cannot quite bring himself to believe her at the same time. Which honestly seems the most realistic moment in the whole play, if one has been paying attention to the real world.<p></p><p>This all gets very complicated, which is in and of itself part of the fun, not least when Angelo orders Claudio put to death anyway and the Duke has to juggle even more balls (or words) to save the young man. Which he could do so much more easily, it must be said. Lord this man loves his drama! More than he loves his justice, certainly. In fact the entire climax of the play comes across as needlessly cruel and manipulative, a fact most productions try to mitigate against as much as possible. At the very end--and here I cannot praise <i>Charles A. Duncombe</i>'s editing nor <i>Frederique Michel</i>'s direction enough--what seems like the perfect ending in terms of theatrical formula lies naked in its exploitation and deceit and casual sadism. </p><p>So...wow. </p><p><b><i><u><a href="https://citygarage.org" target="_blank">Measure4Measure</a></u></i></b> <span style="color: red;">plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 4pm until July 9, 2023 at City Garage, 2525 Michigan Avenue, Building T1, Santa Monica, CA 90404.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-22672166345164605092023-06-06T13:18:00.000-07:002023-06-06T13:18:24.525-07:00Getting There (Fringe 2023)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_mV1hOBMEC4NTcQAOhsxSZYBXa4LONY4pEe5G-Ab9EzvNDava1YJa43qBUVetDwbvr-7uMPkD7xmo5oITd8SeyX6leob5EJH5Fmd5niXvM4NuCOLcKcf5NCUvOiVhtl8dGr5w2s4rScMMqZp728UeTgNZpgWmnTZYDPg1P_QeIjRdDuKpj3WJtP4zA/s885/c9GettingThere.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="885" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_mV1hOBMEC4NTcQAOhsxSZYBXa4LONY4pEe5G-Ab9EzvNDava1YJa43qBUVetDwbvr-7uMPkD7xmo5oITd8SeyX6leob5EJH5Fmd5niXvM4NuCOLcKcf5NCUvOiVhtl8dGr5w2s4rScMMqZp728UeTgNZpgWmnTZYDPg1P_QeIjRdDuKpj3WJtP4zA/w376-h340/c9GettingThere.png" width="376" /></a></div><b><i><span style="color: #ff00fe;"> Spoilers ahoy!</span></i></b><br /><p></p><p>NOTE: Both star and director of this show are good friends of mine.</p><p>One thing I genuinely love about modern theatre (omygodyesiambeingacademic) is how it has left behind the arrogance that only the so-called "great" are worthy of theatre. We see plays these days about salesmen, about little old ladies, about ordinary people trying to pay their rent, etc.</p><p>In this case, we have a one woman show not about her struggle with cancer (she is in remission YAY) but about how interacting with strangers helped her handle the ordeal. More specifically, <i>Rebecca O'Brien</i> rode various buses to and from her treatments, her tests, her shopping for prescriptions as well as stuff like food. What she was facing was a hard time, and she needed a support network that didn't at that moment in her life really exist. Her family were either far away or dealing with other issues (serious ones, this is <b><i><span style="color: #ff00fe;">not</span></i></b> a story about neglect or lack of caring). So in the process of <u><i><b><a href="https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/7059" target="_blank">Getting There</a></b></i></u> (the "there" being all sorts of things really) she opened herself up to the folks with whom she was sharing the journey. On the bus.</p><p>And a mighty interesting, sometimes ridiculous, sometimes scary, sometimes wonderfully wise congregation they proved to be! Nor, and methinks is the real point, was she in particular wildly lucky. She simply, profoundly, opened herself up to the folks around her. </p><p>To the half-mad crackhead girl trying to claw her way out of a mental haze I do not want to imagine, to the Russian lady determined to smother this fellow passenger with very welcome kindness, to a butcher who just likes a customer who takes the time to be nice, the driver who makes a snap decision which saves her some money, an random person who makes an extra effort to get Rebecca her phone she had not noticed fell out of her purse. It makes for quite a tapestry, and one that is as genuinely hilarious as it proves moving. </p><p><b><i><u>Getting There</u></i></b> is almost an anti-<u><i>Waiting for Godot</i></u>, not least because she finds herself not at all alone, and refusing to ignore that fact. May we all have the courage and kindness to do the same. I found myself admiring Rebecca as I would a war hero. Or, any kind of hero, really. </p><p>Showtimes at the Hudson Theatre Guild 6539 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90038:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Sunday June 11 2023, 8:00 PM</li><li>Thursday June 15 2023, 8:30 PM</li><li> Sunday June 18 2023, 1:00 PM</li><li>Tuesday June 20 2023, 8:30 PM</li></ul><p></p><h4 class="my-0" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important;"><br /></h4>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-50173321693103846082023-06-06T12:51:00.000-07:002023-06-06T12:51:40.129-07:00The Portable Dorothy Parker (Fringe 2023)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDWwJERihVmqu2V4Zhgovh-SKZ9KOwHx4HQPs7KXGawrSgadbVzk2vtsSWv1qRxV9-yjOmKsLk0kcrz6pRFqfCu__De9SIhjJA_kY63IZR5zcdWTSh-Aup2xpf9jm79mXemjnhWWz3JufM-ltxQmiZMcftb9rPhSOlNJ-FzAGdYMp-gRRnoYgQFX6Irg/s768/DorothyParker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDWwJERihVmqu2V4Zhgovh-SKZ9KOwHx4HQPs7KXGawrSgadbVzk2vtsSWv1qRxV9-yjOmKsLk0kcrz6pRFqfCu__De9SIhjJA_kY63IZR5zcdWTSh-Aup2xpf9jm79mXemjnhWWz3JufM-ltxQmiZMcftb9rPhSOlNJ-FzAGdYMp-gRRnoYgQFX6Irg/w403-h536/DorothyParker.jpg" width="403" /></a></div> <span style="color: red;"><b><i>Spoilers ahoy!</i></b></span> <p></p><p>Dorothy Parker was a writer, critic, poet and personality of the first half the twentieth century who fairly begs to be the subject of a one person show. No surprise then to see one in this year's Fringe Festival.</p><p><i>Margot Avery</i> portrays the lead (or should I say "cast"?) of <a href="https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/9698" target="_blank"><i>The Portable Dorothy Parker</i></a>, set in 1943 when Parker's husband is off at war and she, past her prime, looks back with a certain dissatisfied rue. A unseen young woman is visiting, to help her put together a collection of her works (hence the title). Parker does not want her there, but treats her politely enough. She drinks and drinks and drinks some more, going over her past and letting her tongue wag. </p><p>It makes for an extremely workable format. Almost perfect. More, let me say this right up front--it works. That all too often is a rarity in one person shows. Many crash and burn. Here the single performer aided by the script by <i>Annie Lux</i> and direction by <i>Lee Costello</i> gives us an entertaining, even insightful portrait of a fascinating woman. Fan of the infamous wit get plenty doses of same, which we can (and do) savor at our leisure. Count me in!</p><p>So is there a "but" coming? Well, yeah. This reminds me of a youtube video about some writer, that tries to give a relatively thorough outline of an artist, their art and career, in less than an hour. A near-impossible task. Certainly, I left the theatre entertained and informed. But I barely felt moved. Parker was a passionate person, a spitfire of wit given to frequent episodes of heavy drinking and extreme depression. I liked the show. I feel pleased to have seen and heard it. I wanted to feel changed by a glimpse into an extraordinary, complicated soul. </p><p>Which, to be fair, is a very hard thing to do in less than an hour. </p><p>Showtimes at The Broadwater Black Box 6322 Santa Monica Blvd. :</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Thursday June 8 2023, 9:30 PM</li><li>Saturday June 17 2023, 9:00 PM</li><li>Monday June 19 2023, 6:30 PM</li><li>Saturday June 24 2023, 11:00 AM</li></ul><p></p><h4 class="my-0" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important;"><br /></h4>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-10428662830747996212023-05-27T15:47:00.003-07:002023-05-27T15:47:40.739-07:00Everything Starts Like a Knock on the Door (review) <p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaaJ5nId7MRu-H3potem2stvmaTjjxYpeu7ewiDp4lPpHd7kgqIvy5twDq-KVeyNu6810L0m85ScSjLR_bo4jz9sHlHSSaFlgGmXQgnofupBEEq3q86ahUS7KgZW1dj5JHRZ-Au5nhevi0nf7n3gcXQoacbAW6sozLXjr9NbNISJB5i-7rTb5hEqZo9w/s1080/Rebecca-2_square.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaaJ5nId7MRu-H3potem2stvmaTjjxYpeu7ewiDp4lPpHd7kgqIvy5twDq-KVeyNu6810L0m85ScSjLR_bo4jz9sHlHSSaFlgGmXQgnofupBEEq3q86ahUS7KgZW1dj5JHRZ-Au5nhevi0nf7n3gcXQoacbAW6sozLXjr9NbNISJB5i-7rTb5hEqZo9w/w374-h374/Rebecca-2_square.jpg" width="374" /></a></div><b><i><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Spoilers ahoy! </span></i></b><p></p><p>My friend <i>Stepy Kamei</i> is forging a powerful niche with her interactive immersive performances. The premise is so simple yet conveys so much power. You get a phone call from someone, some one very real but also long gone from this world. And you have a conversation with someone who you have probably heard of--but for the wrong reasons. Not for their accomplishments, nor their character. Rather we know them for how they died.</p><p>Kamei seeks to correct that. To reclaim the memories of those who deserve better. Which is almost everyone. Including you. Including even me.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Schaeffer" target="_blank">Rebecca Schaeffer</a> was a young actress up for a role in a major motion picture in 1989, following a stint in a sitcom and some appearances in several films. In <b><i><u><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Everything Starts Likes a Knock at the Door</span></u></i></b> begins with a phone call from her to you, the audience member. Almost. We are getting some time travel involved here, via one of the most powerful artforms, namely music. The first <a href="https://youtu.be/tbNlMtqrYS0" target="_blank">song</a> we here, a charming one we've all heard before, becomes quickly chilling--if you know about how Rebecca Schaeffer ended. As it happens the last <a href="https://youtu.be/wp43OdtAAkM" target="_blank">song</a> likewise feels like a punch in the soul's very gut. Her murder proved especially shocking, and resulted in new laws being passed all over the world, acknowledging and trying to deal with the dangerous trend of stalking.</p><p>But she was more than an inspiration for legislators. More than a body laid out on a morgue. More than a set of memories.</p><p>Maybe we don't dwell on that so much--she and others who have died by violence in their millions and millions and more millions--because it feels so hard to admit how fragile breathing proves to be. How easy it is for us to stop. Or for someone to take it away. </p><p>In a few (or not so few) minutes of conversation, all those possibilities live again. Someone who was a face and voice on a screen, becomes some one we know. Or knew. Or now know, long after their deaths. Their end is approaching. We know it. And the performance makes clear amid Rebecca's giddiness about life, about finding friends, about a career she clearly loved/loves...the end is approaching. </p><p>For her. For us. For you. For me. Maybe that is most powerful thing about these performances, this quiet and intense glimpses of a real past and never-to-be-real future. </p><p>Magic really. When you think on it.</p><p><a href="https://nothing-in-the-dark-productions.ticketleap.com/everything-starts-like-a-knock-at-the-door/details" target="_blank"><b><i>Everything Starts Like a Knock on the Door</i></b></a> plays 28 different dates through June 30, 2023. Follow the link at the start of this paragraph to learn details.</p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-71025149982052305792023-04-19T11:41:00.001-07:002023-04-21T17:27:32.298-07:00The Slippery Knot (review)<p> <b><i><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Spoilers Ahoy! </span></i></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu4ssajD-8nEp4jFnu3ccmAKIGe_kcCKfw4CFxz3JMhzU96GmeO-XZOfxn7gOztAapYuGqWdlF_Udw_N8cBdzgf7_JK5BAuuzJI8ig5ZqKXoYN6s5S1PSQ00OED6hjDtxxQuUPwPtSbY01PC7MOMaz8xW5ngAI8BoWjs2x_kbAEWyVP78yPs1dEwSjCw/s1600/SLIPPERY.KNOT.heic" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1242" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu4ssajD-8nEp4jFnu3ccmAKIGe_kcCKfw4CFxz3JMhzU96GmeO-XZOfxn7gOztAapYuGqWdlF_Udw_N8cBdzgf7_JK5BAuuzJI8ig5ZqKXoYN6s5S1PSQ00OED6hjDtxxQuUPwPtSbY01PC7MOMaz8xW5ngAI8BoWjs2x_kbAEWyVP78yPs1dEwSjCw/w306-h395/SLIPPERY.KNOT.heic" width="306" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>This marks (I think) the fourth production I've had the pleasure of seeing from <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ballviewentertainment/?hl=en" target="_blank">Ballview Productions</a>. </p><p><a href="https://allevents.in/los%20angeles/the-slippery-knot/10000593260477057" target="_blank"><b><i>The Slippery Knot</i></b></a> by <i>David Dickens</i> and directed by <i>Brandon Slezak</i> is described in their press release as an "absurdist Dickensian dark comedy" which is accurate, and rarely I will urge you to pay attention to those adjectives. All apply most acutely.</p><p>Let me be brutally frank--this play is hard to initially get "into." The opening scenes are very busy and frantic, also so fast with characters speaking such odd things one has trouble following. </p><p>Mind you, the scale (especially in cast size) and weird background make up a lot of the show's charm. Dickensian, yes, but also a bit of Dr. Seus plus Lewis Carroll, soaked in absinthe and sprinkled with J.M.Barrie. We never really get explanation of how Lord Montsume (<i>Ian Michaels</i>) ended up having to live/dwell in his School for Demeaning Boys, where his viciously loyal Colonel (<i>Talin Vartanian</i>) routinely degrades and punishes a band of children who've evidently never known anything else (or maybe have forgotten--evidently this place has been in operation for centuries). Our entire story is a flashback, though. One Robert Gardener (<i>David Dickens</i>) is missing and his wife Martha (<i>Megan Colburn</i>) has seemingly hired or at least become allied with The Inspector (<i>Ayanda Dube</i>) to find him, looking up the retired Mr. Skeams (<i>Jay Rumor</i>) to help figure out what they can.</p><p>It all goes back to when Robert was a demeaning boy named Speedy Gardener (<i>Lauren Adlhoch</i>) along with other boys/prisoners such as Pip (<i>Fatima Camacho</i>) and Poor Nicholas (<i>Alex Rhind</i>).</p><p>NOTE: I am not at all sure I've got all the names right, simply because the cast of characters was so large. Yet it is easy enough to recall the major characters.</p><p>When the once-in-a-century visit to the school of a circus occurs, a complex plot emerges to let Speedy escape. Much of this depends upon the so-called wild girl Mental Martha (<i>Natalia Ortega</i>) who will one day grow up to be Martha Gardener. Seems the Circus' Magician (<i>Jayden Jack</i>) vows revenge on his wife (<i>Libby Rose</i>) who is having an affair with Lord Montsume. Urged by Mr. Skeams, he uses a magic door to free/hide young Speedy in what seems to be a pocket dimension or realm of some kind. Other people are trapped there, most of them totally mad. Once released, they go rampant. Aided by the Circus' former owner Mr. Whistle (<i>Alec Schiff</i>) Mental Martha and Speedy steal the train which brought it to this location, along with the Emptiness Clown (<i>Isaac Tipton-Snyder</i>) and a former prisoner of the Circus called Mr. Plank (<i>Max Zumstein</i>).</p><p>The Lord and the Colonel are soon in pursuit, sparking a quest/chase in which some really odd aspects of life take weird shape. I don't want to spoil the thought-provoking details, but the two act fever/opium dream really does embody what I sometimes like to call <b>Theatre of Dreams</b>. Not so much a plot or story, really, as a dream mounted on stage, full of powerful images and meanings it will take time to digest and decide for yourself what it all might mean.</p><p><b><i><u><a href="https://allevents.in/los%20angeles/the-slippery-knot/10000593260477057" target="_blank">The Slippery Knot</a></u></i></b> <b><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8:30 pm, Sundays at 4pm until April 30, 2023 at the Whitmore-Lindley Theatre Center, 11006 Magnolia Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91601.</span></b></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-37511948480561857972023-04-11T18:25:00.004-07:002023-04-11T21:57:17.522-07:00Battlesong of Boedica 2023 (review)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWkHfNVNkVObsrPu5YxjDNA5baAJm3XK0snbnYDpkrDAQRfLhhVgDNOKBtyvUsWY-e5qExbMIKGsyMpJx3X44vILnMGbSlybs85_a5hLNqIIvWGlAXlZCl34RBYt8sAEPGM0Ti4m8buLgtjr5ehX5mGJ4WCOLqXK3VFjVeF-49EtuU-0W0qnVQfBy9Pw/s2560/Brenda-Boudica-scaled.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1625" height="383" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWkHfNVNkVObsrPu5YxjDNA5baAJm3XK0snbnYDpkrDAQRfLhhVgDNOKBtyvUsWY-e5qExbMIKGsyMpJx3X44vILnMGbSlybs85_a5hLNqIIvWGlAXlZCl34RBYt8sAEPGM0Ti4m8buLgtjr5ehX5mGJ4WCOLqXK3VFjVeF-49EtuU-0W0qnVQfBy9Pw/w243-h383/Brenda-Boudica-scaled.webp" width="243" /></a></div><b><i> <span style="color: #cc0000;">Spoilers ahoy!</span></i></b><div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i>(and lots of misspelling of the name "Boudica")<br /></i></b></span><p></p><p>First mounted for the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2022, <i><b><u><a href="https://schoolofnight.org" target="_blank">Battlesong of Boedica</a></u></b></i> impressed me so much I put it on my "Top Ten" for that year. It has been remounted, and my short review comes down to one sentence:</p><p>They did it even better!</p><p>If you don't know, Boedica was a Queen (or War Chieftan) of a Celtic tribe in Britain during the reign of Nero. Faced with oppression more than she and her people will tolerate, she raised tribes in revolt, destroying London then slaughtering hordes of Romans until at last falling in battle. The stuff of great story-telling, indeed. More, though, in this case that story is told with all the matter of theatre one could hope for. Dance plays a major role, as do masks (telling of course how ALL the Romans wear them, while the Britains do only rarely). Combat itself becomes a dance, while the raw theatricality of it all keeps growing and growing. At one point, Boedica herself (<i>Jen Albert</i>) dares to summon a Goddess of Battle, brought to more-than-life in a uniquely theatrical manner (and btw better than anything Weta Workshop or CGI could ever hope). </p><p>What I describe sounds like spectacle, and indeed this show is that and more. Be warned--plenty of violence, some extremely gruesome, some of it frankly triggering (the worst, thank all the gods, off stage--yet just as horrific). </p><p>Yet without a story full of real people, what's the point? Boedica begins as a harshly practical ally of Rome, having to persuade her husband Prasutaugus (<i>Daniel Admonian</i>) to put up with the company of a Roman Governor. But in the wake of her husband's death in battle, fighting Druids in the name of "civilization" which kills its own citizens for sport, Boedica's home is looted, herself literally whipped and her daughters sexually assaulted. </p><p>And war erupts. I want to emphasize how almost every named character, from the Roman officials in their careless arrogance to Boedica's daughters who embrace yet sometimes question their mother's quest, even to relatively minor characters like a Celt challenger to Boedica's leadership, the young warrior in love with one of the Chieftan's daughters, the official looking at the wreck of all he believed permanent and inviolate, all have individual arcs, all we see live emotional truths--see and recognize those truths (in once instance, startlingly funny). </p><p>The consistency of all this earns kudos to the writer/director <i>Christopher William Johnson</i>, as well as the entire cast--<i>Christopher Neiman, Tristan Rewald, Dawn Alden, Allegra Rodriquez Shivers, Colin A. Borden, Lucy Schmidt, Tom Block, Jack TenBarge, Payton Cella, Jesse James Thomas, Sara Gorsky, Frank Tirimacco, Brad. D. Light</i>, and <i>Dan Wingard</i>. All to this <i>Chloe Madriaga</i> who accompanies the entire show with drum and other percussions.</p><p>More than <i><u>Lord of the Rings</u></i> and the entire <i><u>Star Wars</u></i> saga, more than <i><u>Game of Thrones</u></i> this grand performance deserves the epitaph "epic" not least because it stirs the imagination the way film almost never can. I actually found myself moving in rhyme and rhythm with the the dance of war. Likewise the hair on my skin rose more than once, and I tasted the despair of both the Romans and the Celts as each approached their doom.</p><p>And one leaves the theatre, remembering Boedica. As one should.</p><p><b><i><u><a href="https://schoolofnight.org" target="_blank">Battlesong of Boedica</a></u></i><span style="color: red;"> plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 3pm until April 29, 2023 at the Hudson Backstage, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90038.</span></b></p><p><i>Content warning -- Blood violence, whipping, suicide, depiction of animal sacrifice and verbal description of sexual assault.</i></p></div>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139921723020574036.post-56246194470493785252023-02-27T12:21:00.003-08:002023-02-27T12:21:25.592-08:00King Lear 2023 (review)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgONbL__rOTJ5U-qwPU3Hh4FzZzpUNpg8zJc-rCYjplVvNqrjFvt4ot3Q1aUsY84AOBhF1IQBb9vy6mJcFtV5ZeF60Mt30lrlucsc1exrOUVPgvJYZ6GjlkfN4oxrRptZkFbdj4PPeBIFrFTkHbxkrZkTj3DxdDfkbXl3dYKq6mJ4JxVLEiEJHJpu8yBQ/s960/10672befeb566bdcd252b8224231903f84ee4cdf07892711f5923af0fd7b7367-rimg-w632-h960-gmir.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="632" height="555" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgONbL__rOTJ5U-qwPU3Hh4FzZzpUNpg8zJc-rCYjplVvNqrjFvt4ot3Q1aUsY84AOBhF1IQBb9vy6mJcFtV5ZeF60Mt30lrlucsc1exrOUVPgvJYZ6GjlkfN4oxrRptZkFbdj4PPeBIFrFTkHbxkrZkTj3DxdDfkbXl3dYKq6mJ4JxVLEiEJHJpu8yBQ/w366-h555/10672befeb566bdcd252b8224231903f84ee4cdf07892711f5923af0fd7b7367-rimg-w632-h960-gmir.webp" width="366" /></a></div><br /><b><i><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Spoilers ahoy!</span></i></b><p></p><p>The story goes that Richard Burton spent part of the last years of his life trying to summon the courage to play the lead in <b><i><a href="https://www.lbshakespeare.org/events/66813" target="_blank">King Lear</a></i></b>. Don't know if that is true, but I can well believe it. One of the most powerful and challenging of Shakespeare's plays, the layers and complexities of it easily rival <i><u>Hamlet</u></i>.</p><p>Essentially the plot deals with a very old, formerly great and powerful monarch (<i>Ari Agabian</i>) who has no sons. He determines to divide his realm between his three daughters, thus avoiding possible conflicts in the future. That he imagines this would somehow work is one of many reasons to suppose he is not the man he once was. Even more worryingly he asks his daughters to say how much they love him before he doles out their inheritances. Of course his two eldest Goneril (<i>Aura Rico</i>) and Regan (<i>Jessica Wienecke</i>) begin to lay down the flattery for all they are worth, while the youngest Cordelia (<i>Jahnavi Aithal</i>) insists on saying she loves her father, but hopes to also love her husband. Enraged, Lear disinherits his hitherto favorite, bidding her two suitors the Duke of Burgundy (<i>Ryan Hollow</i>) or the King of France (<i>Bobby Brodney</i>) take her sans any dowry. The latter, interestingly, is perfectly willing to do so.</p><p>And the instant Lear's back is turned, Goneril and Regan note how unstable the old man is. They needs must protect themselves from him, pledging to be allies. </p><p>Parallel to all this is the Earl of Gloucester (<i>Eduardo Mora</i>) with his two sons--the elder, legitimate Edgar (<i>Rafael Hernandez Roulet</i>), and younger bastard Edmund (<i>Erin Manker</i>). This last--one of Shakespeare's truly great villains--decides to frame his brother, in the end forcing him into exile. This he swiftly accomplishes, not least due to their father's gullibility. In fact, as the play proceeds, eventually both the older royal sisters fall out in part because they both want Edmund for themselves!</p><p>I have seen over a dozen productions of this play, and to get all the dramatic lined up in a successful row is very rare. So that this one has it flaws is hardly unusual. Some extremely high end such have had them. I would note only a very few real problems here. The stage combat is not very good. A couple of actors seem not to understand their roles at all, at least imho. One or two costumes or blocking choices made me go "huh???" </p><p>But I would rather note that this production has one of the best Edmunds I have ever seen, and also the director <i>Holly LeVeque</i> had a hand in this--especially the "eye" scene. The moment when the Duke of Cornwall (<i>Andres Tyrell-Smith</i>) actually flirts with Edmund proved startling and delightful--but then the villains are so often the most fun to play as well as watch. The Duke is husband to Regan, and they seem well matched in casual cruelty. Lear himself seems a bit young for the part, but he listens and reacts with a genuine intensity that works very well overall. </p><p>Most importantly, the audience was rivetted, and I'm more than happy to note that it was clear the cast understood their lines and sought to genuinely speak them as part of the action (I have seen plenty of Lears where actors pretended, and it was obvious--just as it was cringeworthy). This production grabs your attention and keeps it. Few things bore me faster than Shakespeare done by those who have zero clue or refuse to dive into the actual drama (or comedy) of the text. </p><p><a href="https://www.lbshakespeare.org/events/66813" target="_blank"><b><i><u>King Lear</u></i></b> </a><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>at the Long Beach Shakespeare Company has four more performances--Saturday March 4 at 8pm, Sunday March 5 at 2pm, then Friday March 10 and Saturday March 11 at 8pm at the Helen Borgers Theatre, 4250 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach CA 90807</b></span></p><p><br /></p>Zahir Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14533361554787004824noreply@blogger.com0