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This was neither 'this' nor 'that'.
We saw the play This, by Melissa James Gibson, at Barrington Stage 2 last night. A rather confusing plot involves four people who have known each other and have been friends since high school, who are entering middle age- if 38 is really considered middle age.
Erica Dorfler
Marrell, played by Erica Dorfler, is married to Tom, played by Eddie Boroevich. They have a small child who is mainly heard crying off-stage. Jane, played by Julia Coffey, is recently widowed. They are trying to set her up with Jean-Pierre, played by Paris Remillard, a 'Doctor without Borders'. Alan is their gay friend.
Eddie Boroevich
In the opening scene they play a game with Jane as 'it', wherein she asks questions that are answered 'yes', 'no, or 'maybe', depending on whether her question ends in a vowel, a consonant, or a y. She, of course, gets caught up in the non-story and decides it's all about her and her dead husband. She leaves in anger.
Julia Coffey
Tom comes to her apartment and confesses he has always loved her. They have sex- standing up and fully clothed. Now they both feel guilty.
Mark H. Dold
The rest of the play concerns their guilt, Marrell's unhappiness with her marriage and Alan's desire to go to Africa with Jean-Pierre, who turns out to be bi-sexual.
Paris Remillard
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln....
All of the actors seemed like fine thespians but there was too much emotion with too little plot.
At the very end, Jane has a solo scene, talking to her daughter who is asleep and whom we have never seen. She apologizes for what a miserable mother she has been. The End.
Whew!
The play was directed by Louisa Proske.
A theatrical legend has left the stage. Barbara Cook died yesterday.
She was the last of the GREAT Broadway singers from a generation when you really had to SING to be on Broadway.
I saw her many times in a number of different musicals. I missed her Candide with 'Glitter and be Gay'. I was performing the complete organ works of Bach each week at Columbia University and between conducting five choirs at my church, including a St. John Passion, directing The Glass Menagerie with the theatre group and practicing my fingers off, I just couldn't make it. But I heard her sing the aria many times.
Her Marian the Librarian in The Music Man was unforgettable. I recently heard a performance of this work and the Marian was no Barbara.
She Loves Me, with her singing 'Vanilla Ice Cream'! Several solo concerts, including one not that long ago. What a beautiful voice!
You were the best!
This afternoon David and I joined our friend Heinke to see a play at the Chester Theatre Company in Chester Mass. This was our first visit to this venue.
It is held in the Town Hall, and today, was arranged as a theatre in the round, or more correctly, in the square, with the audience seated on all sides of the acting area.
The play was Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan 'with' Jonny Donahoe. I'm not sure if the 'with' means he is the co-author or what.
The actor was Joel Ripka.
At first I assumed that this was to be a one-man show. Then ushers handed out numbered cards with phrases written on them for the audience to read aloud when asked, so I decided it was to be a Second City type of improvisation, where the audience calls out ideas and the actor(s) make things up.
It turns out it was none of the above. Mr. Ripka asked the audience to read what was on their card when he said their number. This was really a gimmick to keep the story moving about his suicidal mother and a list of wonderful things he began when he was seven years old and continued well into adulthood. He was obviously following a script and the cards read by the audience merely triggered the next section on the dialogue.
He asked several members of the audience to participate. Our friend Heinke was one of the impromptu members of the cast. He either told them what to say or handed them another card to read.
After a while this became annoying to this jaded theatre-goer.
He went through the list up to the 800,000's. Telling us his life history as we went along. It was sad and was a strong commentary against suicide, but became tiresome for this listener.
After seeing Barrington Stage's Kunstler a while back, which was a very strong one-man show, (even though the author included one minor character), this was cold potatoes.
Taking Steps is Alan Ayckbourn's satire of a satire, farce of a farce, silent movie, with all the pratfalls, mugging,and mistaken identity of the Chaplain era. Plus inane dialogue, often shouted so you are sure to realize it's funny. In other words, it's too bloody much!
As in the typical French farce, people are running in and out of doors, hiding in closets, confusing identities, sleeping in the wrong bed with the wrong person. In this case they are running up and down three flights of stairs, which on this stage are all on the same level.
Claire Brownell
The play, at Barrington Stage, which was directed by Sam Buntrock, starred Claire Brownell, Helen Cespedes, Carson Elrod, Matthew Greer, Richard Hollis, and Luke Smith.
Carson Elrod
I'm sure that they are all fine actors but were encouraged by Mr. Buntrock to chew the scenery to a fare thee well.
Matthew Greer
The set was imaginative and confusing. Hanging above the set was a full sized set of stairs with a couple of doors, giving the audience the idea of the three stories of the house. The actual set was all on one level. Often the actors were supposed to be on different floors but were criss-crossing each other on the stage, pretending they were not seeing each other. They had to pretend to climb the stairs by clomping about on the level.
Richard Hollis
Busy, busy!
Luke Smith
I did not see the Broadway original in the seventies but it only ran a couple of months.
Helen Cespedes
Everyone else seemed to enjoy it. I was just weary from all the running around without much of a plot to hang the energy on.
